Deleted Scenes
by 12Mrs.Castile34
Summary: A collection of "deleted scenes" that occur within the time span of Vampire Academy and Last Sacrifice. Scenes that Richelle either didn't add or familiar scenes from a different POV. Stories with range in genre and seriousness. Rated T for possible violence or mature suggestions or mature topics. No swearing or lemons.
1. Falling for you

**AN: Hello dearies!**

 **Hope you like this one-shot! It was really fun to write because it is 100% Romitri!**

 **This "deleted scene" takes place between Vampire Academy and Frostbite. So the lust charm has happened but neither Rose nor Dimitri have really declared their love to each other out loud. Hopefully this puts you in the right mindset:)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or its characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

 **Falling For You : Rose POV**

"I hope you know that that is completely unnecessary."

"It is just a precaution."

"I can't believe your lack of faith in my agility prowess! I'm like a ninja but better because I have a supernatural advantage."

* * *

 _Ten minutes ago, when I'd stepped into the gym, it had been empty. But before I'd had a chance to celebrate the unbelievable feat of beating Dimitri to practice, I'd seen the note that told me to meet him in the woods by the primary campus. And in a P.S. he'd told me to run the whole way there because "he'd be timing me." (How he knew when I'd arrived I had no idea.) It was a strangely warm day for fall in Montana - which was probably why Dimitri decided to have practice outside - so I'd had no trouble with discarding my jacket and taking off at a sprint across the grounds. When I'd made it to the intended location I'd been surprised by what I saw: the twenty foot high obstacle course that had been banned from use 5 years ago due to rotting, had been restored almost completely. I'd been looking up at the course, thoroughly impressed, when Dimitri had stepped out from behind a particularly large tree (It'd have to be large to hide his whole muscled frame) with an amused smirk._

" _Did you do this?" I'd asked._

" _I think you overestimate the amount of free time I have," he'd said._

" _You didn't answer the question, Comrade."_

" _I had a part in it, but I also had a lot of help."_

" _Cool, so do I get to run it?" I'd asked excitedly, but also slightly turned on by an image of him smudged with dirt and covered with sweat, hammering and building and sawing and – woah focus._

" _Yes," he'd said, his amusement growing. "It's been tested so we know it's safe. The purpose of this is obviously for you to work on your balance. You could use some improvement in that area."_

" _Hey, you try and keep your footing while fighting someone who not only out weighs you by at least 100 pounds and is a foot taller than you, but also is like 10 times stronger than you."_

 _He'd just shrugged and told me to climb up. Which leaves me where I was now – at the top of the ladder ready to begin the Sky Run (that was what it'd been called when it was still operational), and arguing with Dimitri about his insistence on standing beneath me through the entirety of the course._

* * *

"If only you'd embrace their silence as well," he said in response to my ninja comment. Then laughing at my answering scowl.

"Seriously though. I don't need you to baby me. I won't fall," I told him, donning my usual stubborn attitude and placing my hands on my hips for emphasis.

"And I won't take any chances. Please humor me. I believe in your capabilities, but I'll be more at ease if I am here to catch you if you do fall."

"Even if I fall, not saying I will, you wouldn't be able to catch me without hurting yourself."

He smirked. "Now who is doubting who's agility prowess? Don't worry. I won't let you fall."

"I not going to fall!" I yelled.

"Prove it."

Fully agitated, I began the first obstacle of the course: The Plank. The Plank was exactly what you would imagine it to be: a plank. It had a width of 5 inches and the length was 15 feet (the distance between every platform). The Plank was beyond easy to cross. It helped that I'd never been afraid of heights because that would've been the only difficulty for that portion of the Sky Run.

The second section was a little trickier. Two parallel ropes ran the length between the platforms, and wooden boards were placed across the ropes in one foot intervals. It looked like an old bridge that a villain might cut in a movie. So it was no surprise that this obstacle was called The Bridge. (Guardians weren't known for their creativity.) This segment looked simple enough, but there were no railings and The Bridge swung and dipped at every little movement. As I walked across, moving slowly from board to board, I was forced to break the vow I'd made to myself while climbing the ladder – I had to stick my arms out for balance, causing myself to have the appearance of a confused bird. I hated birds so I sure as heck didn't want to look like one. At one point I tilted and lost my center of gravity, nearly taking a tumble. Dimitri must've thought I was going to fall because I heard a sharp intake of breath below me. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of being right so I added some extra gesticulation to my arm movements and righted myself. When The Bridge stopped swinging I looked down to see a concerned Dimitri. I smirked and winked at him, letting him know that I was fine _and_ that I was still a warrior ninja. He smiled back encouragingly and I continued on at a more deliberate and slow pace. Eventually though, I did make it across.

The third challenge was called The Ropes. This consisted of two ropes criss-crossed at vertical, acute angles. The beginning and end of this section was simple because the lower rope provided a "path" of sorts to shimmy across while the upper rope served as a handhold. But as I neared the middle and the ropes got closer together, it became more difficult. I had to crouch down and continue to shuffle across with my handhold being only inches above the rope holding my feet. The center, where the ropes crossed, was the most problematic. I had no handhold whatsoever and I needed to switch my feet from one rope to the other. With some fancy maneuvering and foot work I managed to get my right foot onto the other rope – the one that had been my handhold previously. I had to slide that foot down to create room for my left foot, but I hit a complication when the foot kept sliding. The shifting of weight had jostled the ropes and so neither of them were stable right now, including the one holding my left foot which was bearing most of my weight and – to my horror – was now sliding too. I tried to pull them both back to my body, but that only caused the ropes to swing more which in turn made my feet slide faster until I was doing a full split 20 feet up in the air on nothing but two awkwardly crossed ropes. The number of obscenities that came to my mind couldn't even be counted on both of my hands.

I was nervous and sweating now, and sadly, like I always do when I'm nervous or flustered, I said something stupid.

"So, Comrade," I called, knowing he was beneath me somewhere. "How do you like the view?"

"Rose, focus," came his serious mentor voice.

"I'm trying! I'm sure everyone before me had a hard time getting out of this position too."

"I don't think anyone has ever _gotten_ themselves into that position before," he unhelpfully pointed out

"What can I say? I like a challenge."

"Focus," he said again.

I stuck my tongue out at him and attempted to get out of this situation once again. This time, instead of trying to bring my feet to me, I folded the upper half of my body towards my right foot and grabbed the rope there. After making sure I had a secure grip, I pulled my legs off of the ropes so I was now just hanging with my feet dangling beneath me. I could feel the rope cutting into my hands, but there was no way that I was letting go.

In a split second decision I opted to go hand over hand the rest of the way across, while maintaining my suspended position, rather than pulling myself back up. I'd probably regret that later when I had rope burns and cuts to deal with, but right now I wasn't going to chance another acrobatic performance.

When I made it to the other side and hauled myself up onto the platform, I stood and raised my fists to the air in victory.

"Yes!" I shouted.

"Don't get too cocky," Dimitri warned. "Pride comes before the fall."

"Is that supposed to be some kind of foreshadowing pun?" I asked.

He quirked an eyebrow. "No, though I am impressed with your use of the word 'foreshadowing'."

"Hey, I'll have you know that I know many words in the English language. I have an impressive vocabulary."

"And a colorful one." I smirked smugly and he rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Keep going. you've got one more leg of the course left."

With an exaggerated salute I spun on my heels to face what was going to be the most challenging obstacle yet: The One Footer. The Guardians had gotten slightly more inventive with this name, but not much. It was only called The One Footer because of how you had to cross it. Parallel ropes ran from this platform to the next, much like how The Bridge was set up, but this time there were three ropes and they were placed very closely together – practically touching. The ropes, instead of holding boards, had small rectangular platforms, located every five feet, that were only large enough for one foot to stand on (thus the name The One Footer). These ropes were thicker and pulled tauter than the ones on The Bridge in order to prevent serious swinging, but regardless of the developments the ropes would still sway when I jumped onto the wooden blocks. There would be no avoiding the confused, flailing bird look on this one.

I took a deep breath and made my first move, leaping skillfully onto the first block. The ropes dipped a little and almost threw me off with a returning wave before they steadied again. With both of my arms sticking straight out, my left leg pulled slightly to the side, and my right knee marginally bent in order to help with my balance, I prepared for the next jump. I could do this. There was only one other block to the next platform and then I'd be done with the Sky Run. Two little jumps would lead me to victory and prove to Dimitri that Rose Hathaway doesn't need a safety net – or safety person.

I took another filling breath and let it out at a controlled slowness as I shifted into a deeper crouch with the bending of my knee, all while keep the line of my body – that held all of my weight – straight. I exhaled the remaining air quickly as I pushed off from the block and extended my left leg for the next one.

It was at this moment that I was rudely and unwillingly shoved into Lissa's head.

She was in the male Moroi dorms. In Christian's room. On his bed.

Thankfully their clothes were still intact and on their bodies, but they wouldn't be for much longer if their current activity continued to progress.

I was only in her head for a second (brought quickly back by my body's own terror), but it was enough to throw me completely off course. My foot missed the second block and I began to fall into open air. On the way down my shoulder connected hard with that stupid, small wooden block (the one – you know – intended for my foot), flipping my body in a way that would have me land on my back rather than my stomach. Not sure which option was better. My hands could've help with the impact, but then one or both of my arms would probably be broken.

I squeezed my eyes shut and my muscles contracted, preparing for a jarring impact. (Yes, I know you're not supposed to tense up, but I don't think the guy who came up with that was hurtling towards the earth when he said it.)

But then there was no impact.

Well, there was, but it wasn't the hard, unyielding ground. It was a pair of sturdy and careful arms wrapped underneath me and cradling me to a muscled chest that contained a pair of rapidly moving lungs and a speeding heart.

Dimitri

I looked up into wide, brown eyes, immediately feeling safe. Feeling...right. My arms instinctively took advantage of the situation and wrapped around his neck, securing my body to his further. My fall was now only 30% of the reason my pulse was still racing.

"Roza," he breathed. "Are you alright?"

I nearly choked when he said 'Roza.' He hadn't called me that in a long time. "I...wha – yeah. Yes, I'm okay."

His hold on me tightened and he grew even more concerned, probably taking my stuttering as shock. Well... he wasn't wrong, but the reasons for my lapse of speech were a little different than what he was assuming. Less to do with near death and more do to proximity to a certain Russian.

"Really I'm fine, Comrade," I reassured him.

The nickname must've helped convince him because moments later he gingerly lowered me to my feet (much to my dismay), but he didn't step back. His hands continued to hold my waist and my arms held their position around his neck. Perhaps he didn't notice what we were doing, or rather what it looked like we were doing. I wasn't about to inform him if that was the case.

"What happened?" he demanded. "You were doing well and then you just froze."

I thought back to the brief glimpse I got of Lissa and Christian. Even now I could feel her excitement, love, and happiness. I suddenly felt a pang of jealousy, anger, and a little bit of pride (I mean come on, she snuck into the male dorms and was fraternizing with her boyfriend. There was no way that that wasn't due to my influence). The jealousy and anger, however, were still dominant. Her feelings, while impossible to control, had caused me to plummet 20 feet. It may have been into Dimitri's arms, but that fact was irrelevant. What if he hadn't been there?

More than anything though, I was upset that I couldn't demonstrate or act upon or even state my love for Dimitri the way she could to Christian (hence the jealousy). I wanted to be able to sneak into Dimitri's room an hour before sunset and have him hold me while I kissed him senseless. To have him whisper precious words of love in his native tongue while I gasped at what said tongue was doing.

I could do none of that. My heart was forced to feed off of mere morsels: unexpected seconds of closeness, unintentional brushes, unplanned locking of eyes.

But right now...at this moment – with our bodies standing close enough to create a heated atmosphere between us, with his hands still gripping my waist, with our eyes holding each others unwaveringly – well, it was no wonder that my heart was racing to consume it all.

"What happened?" he asked again, more gently this time.

"Lissa pulled me into her head."

"Is she okay?"

"More than okay," I muttered without thinking. Dang it. Dimitri wasn't an idiot and it certainly didn't take a genius to figure out what I accidentally implied.

"I'm sorry Rose," he said, deciding not to acknowledge Lissa's current activities. "I didn't even think about that. I'm usually not too worried about that happening during our morning sessions because she's asl...well, she's _supposed_ to be asleep. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm-" I hissed in a breath through my teeth as he applied a small pressure to the juncture between my collar bone and shoulder where I'd hit it on the block.

He carefully pulled my shirt aside to get a better look. It was already starting to bruise and would definitely look worse tomorrow. Oh, and soreness. That too would be present tomorrow.

While most people would believe him to be reactionless, I saw the softening of his eyes. They weren't worried – which was good because it meant nothing was fractured. But they were concerned and guilty. Of course he would think that this was somehow his fault.

"Hey," I coaxed, using my hand to draw his eyes from the bruise up to me. "Don't be sorry. This wasn't anyone's fault. Just bad timing. Besides, I'll be good as new in a few days."

He nodded and I drew my thumb across his cheek bone. For a moment he closed his eyes and leaned into my touch. I had to work hard to keep my breath from catching. When he still didn't pull away from me, I chanced taking a step closer to him. The step practically closed the gap between our bodies. My mouth was close enough to his that we shared the same breath, and my chest was close enough to his that my breasts brushed him when I breathed. At this _his_ breath caught and his eyes flew open. The unspoken feelings were all there. I could read them as easily as if he'd written them out: longing, affection, but...also resolve. He stepped back and dropped his hands – the moment was over, and I cursed the part of my brain that gave me the stupid idea to step forward.

"I'm glad you're okay Rose," he said.

Rose, not Roza.

"Me too, Comrade. And...thanks by the way. You know...for saving my life. Guess I did need you there after all."

He smiled. "Anytime. I told you that I wouldn't let you fall."

As we walked back to the secondary campus, side by side but with no less and four feet between us, I contemplated what he said and decided that he was wrong. He was wrong and he lied.

Because I had fallen long before today.

I had already fallen so hard and impossibly deep in love with him that even his promises couldn't save me. He'd let me fall and has yet to catch me. Perhaps he never would. And try as I might, I can't stop myself from falling or continuing to fall. Maybe one day he'll catch me or maybe I'll run out of sky and hit the ground, but until that day…

I'll keeping falling for you.

* * *

 **AN: Please let me know what you thought in a review and/or comment and thank you so much for reading!**

 **I'm sure, because of the title, you all guessed what was going to happen in this story, but none the less I hope you found it entertaining to read!**

 **If you have any questions about any of the sections of the course (perhaps you were unable to visualize them based on my descriptions) then let me know and I'll PM you:) The first three sections were actually in a high ropes course that I did a few years ago, but unlike Rose I was harnessed. So that is actually where I got the idea to write this. That and the play on the word "falling."**

 **Also, I am well aware that the first time that Lissa and Christian have sex is in Frostbite. This was just a make-out session that Rose thought might lead to sex. I know the writing kind of implied that they were about to have sex, but that is not the case my friends:)**

 **Have a stupendous day! XOXO**


	2. Schoenburg

**AN: Howdy babes!**

 **So this chapter takes place about 9 years before Vampire Academy (I know, my summary says that all of these stories will take place _between_ the span of the books. I'm sorry. Couldn't help myself.) and it is in Arthur Schoenburg's ****perspective (I** **f any of you need a refresher on who that is then read the first few chapters of Frostbite). A little different than what we are used to, but I think (I hope) you will like it;)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or any of its characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead. I only own Macy and Duke.**

* * *

 **Schoenburg: Arthur Schoenburg's POV**

I can't believe Hans roped me into this. He knows I hate this kind of thing (which is probably why he wanted me to do this in the first place). I should be at court right now; planning, filing, looking through guardian requests, considering trial scores. There's never an absence of work when you're on the Guardians Council, and here I am, in the-middle-of-nowhere Montana, preparing to give a lecture. _A lecture._

"Art."

"Hmm?"

I glance up at Macy, the Moroi representative on the Guardians Council, from my reclined position against the headboard of my bed. She is sitting in an arm chair on the other side of my assigned room, holding open a book in one hand while the other dangles off of the arm rest. Her brunette hair, streaked occasionally with gray, is pulled back in a messy bun (a rarity that only I ever get to see – it's usually in a more professional bun with no hairs out of place). She is smiling, crinkling her laugh lines, and her blue eyes are shinning with amusement.

"I can hear your bitter thoughts from here," she says.

She always can. When you spend enough time with someone there's no such thing as a guardian mask. I feign ignorance anyway because she wanted to come, and therefore is the main reason I am here (that and Hans called in a favor he'd been holding over me for a good decade).

"What are you talking about? I'm reading," I insist.

"Sure you are," she laughs, gesturing to my book with her own. I look down to see my book being held upside down. I've been caught. Sighing, I toss the book aside and swing my legs off the side of the bed.

"I just don't understand why we are here. Any number of capable people could've come out here and talked to a bunch of toddlers about being a guardian. _You_ could do it just as easily as I could."

"They aren't toddlers. They're in elementary school. The youngest child is going to be no younger than 6 or 7" - _Same difference_ _-_ "And no one can do this the way that you can, Art. To these kids you are an untouchable legend, so you're here to tell them how you got to where you are so that they can do the same, and that can only come from you."

I harumph.

"Besides," she continues, setting aside her book. "I thought we agreed on making this a vacation of sorts. We can't be open here, obviously, but it's much easier to get away with... _things" -_ she rises from her chair - "when we aren't under the constant scrutiny that court provides." Now she's walking slowly towards me. I swallow.

Then she is sitting on my lap and my lips are attached to hers and my hands are pulling out her bun.

She's right of course. It's always so hard to get moments alone at court, what with her being the daughter of the current Badica Prince and me being a leader on the Guardians Council. But our busyness and co-working situation aren't the only things that keep us apart. Moroi and dhampir relationships – committed, romantic relationships – are taboo in our society, and, therefore, impossible for us thanks to our titles. If anyone were to find out about Macy and I, we would both get in serious trouble – her more so than me which is why I insist on keeping our relationship a secret. I couldn't live with myself if I were ever the reason for her suffering.

I lay back on the bed and she follows. My hands slide up the back of her thighs and -

And someone is knocking on the door.

"Guardian Schoenburg," comes a tentative voice. "I was sent to give you and Lady Badica a tour of the Academy."

I look up at Macy incredulously. _A tour?!_ I mouth. She bites her lip to keep from laughing. She knew about this.

"I didn't ask for a tour," I reply gruffly.

"I – It was on your itinerary for your stay."

I stare accusingly at May. She has the audacity to shrug.

"Thank you," I say. "I'll meet you in the foyer in a few minutes. Don't bother getting Lady Badica from her room. I'll retrieve her." When I hear foot steps receding I sit up, remove Macy from my lap, and move to put on my guardian uniform because apparently I have a tour to look presentable for. "Really, May?"

"Don't 'really, May' me. You've always liked having your bearings wherever you are. I thought you'd enjoy it."

"I'd enjoy continuing what we were doing a lot more," I grumble, buttoning my jacket.

"Be nice. That boy sounded young. He's probably scared out of his wits. It's not everyday that you get to be around the THE Arthur Schoenburg."

I frown at her, and she smiles and kisses me on the cheek before sauntering into the bathroom to fix her hair and make-up. Our previous activity has left them both more than a little unkempt. When she finishes we both walk down to the foyer where a very young guardian is waiting nervously, shifting from foot to foot. He looks as if he'd just graduated. May smirks as if to say 'I told you so.'

"Lady Badica" - he bows slightly in May's direction then turns to me - "Guardian Schoenburg. I – well, can I just say what an honor it is to meet you and show you around St. Vladimir's."

"Thank you, Guardian…?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I didn't introduce myself!"

He stops talking and an awkward moment goes by so I prompt him again.

"Oh! Right! I'm Alto. Guardian Stan Alto at your service."

"Pleasure to meet you," May says with a smile. She is very fond of young people. "Shall we get on with the tour?"

"Of course. Forgive me. If you both will just follow me."

We do and thus begins the longest tour of my entire life. The tour of the royal palace didn't even take this long and it has way more noteworthy stops and pieces of relevance to see. After two hours we _finally…_

move on to the primary campus.

WHY, May? _Why_ did you sign us up for this tour from hell?

I catch her staring at me as we make our way down the path connecting the secondary and primary campuses, and while Alto's back is turned she mouths, _bitter thoughts._ I roll my eyes. She laughs.

Alto hears her and turns. "Did I say something wrong?" (Apparently he'd been explaining something. Unfortunately, I hadn't been listening) He looks very concerned.

"Oh, No. I was just watching the children," she quickly lies, though, there _are_ quite a few children out here.

He visibly relaxes. "Yes, it's their free time right now. These are our 1st through 5th graders."

Macy's interest is peaked – young people and what not. "Would you mind if we went over there for a bit?" she asks, but it might as well have been a demand. What fresh guardian, or any guardian for that matter, would say no to the daughter of Prince Badica?

"Of – of course," Alto stammers, clearly caught of guard by the change of plans. _Been there before, buddy._

We make our way over to the area where the kids are playing and sit on one of the many benches. Well, May and I sit. Alto continues to stand at attention like I will reprimand him for relaxing.

"Look at the kids," May muses, low enough for only me to hear. "Moroi and dhampir children playing together with such innocence. They aren't yet worried about status or the restrictive social "laws" that will eventually be placed on them. There's a certain beauty in it, don't you think?"

"If you're asking me if I wish our society's "social laws", as you put it, were different, then the answer is yes. But if you're asking me if I wish I were a child again, then the answer is a definite no."

She chuckles and then goes back to watching the children. Eventually, I do too. Why not, I'll be giving half of them my motivational, this-is-how-you-become-Arthur-Schoenburg speech in an hour or so.

The kids are wild, loud, and full of seemingly endless amounts of energy. (I suppose this is the product of keeping them cooped up in a classroom for hours at a time). They are always moving, running, racing. I hardly know where to look. But then my eyes focus on a close group of them that is actually standing still. Seven kids are clustered together – about 15 feet away from May and myself – but there is an obvious divide between them. Not only by age, but also physically – four older kids (probably 5th graders) stand in a line opposite three younger kids that don't look more than 7 or 8 years old.

"He looks like a carrot head! Mason has a carrot head!" a dhampir boy (one of the 5th graders and obviously the leader of that group) yells, pointing at the younger red head.

The older kids laugh and Mason hangs his head in shame, trying to cover his hair with the hood on his jacket. May frowns, having heard the boy's comment too, and appears to be preparing to say something to the bully, but before she has a chance, a small dhampir girl with dark, long locks steps forward and yanks Mason's hood back off.

"Don't hide your hair, Mase," she tells him. Then she turns to the boy who is not only older than her, but also much bigger, and stands inches from his face. "Congratulations Duke. You know that the color of a carrot is orange. Took you a while, didn't it?"

Mason starts cracking up and so do some of the kids in Duke's posse, but he silences them with a look. When he faces the bold, dark girl again he's sneering.

"You don't know anything, Rose. You're so dumb. I bet you won't even become a guardian," he says.

At this Rose's expression hardens. "I _will_ be a guardian. I will be the bestest guardian that's ever been alive. Just wait and see."

Duke laughs. "Girls can't be the best. My uncle says that hardly any girls become guardians anymore because they're too weak."

Well, that's only half true. Yes, female guardian numbers have declined in recent years, but it's certainly not due to weakness. Some desire a life of pleasure rather than a life of danger – and I suppose _that_ can perceived as weakness, but most simply want to raise their children in peace. And I choose to find honor in that.

Rose isn't fazed. "Well, then your uncle is an idiot."

Duke's face turns deep red with rage. "Yeah? At least he won't be a blood whore one day."

I'm not even sure Rose knows what that means, and my suspicions are confirmed when she replies, "So what? At least my name doesn't rhyme with puke."

Not a particularly clever come-back, but for children that is an ultimate insult.

Rose looks smug and flips her hair as she turns and walks away, followed by Mason and a small blonde Moroi. But Duke isn't satisfied with not having the last word.

"At least I don't have a dumb name like Vasilisa," he calls after her.

Rose freezes and slowly spins on her heels. Apparently Duke knows where to strike her in order to cause the most damage because I have never seen this much fury on a child's face before. Or an adult's for that matter. Rose is _ticked._

"What," she growls. "did you say."

Duke smiles. "I said that the name Vasilisa is dumb. Probably the dumbest name ever!"

The blonde girl beside Rose whimpers (Vasilisa I'm assuming), and I think I see tears on her face. Rose takes one look at her Moroi friend's tears before launching herself at Duke like a small, dark panther leaping at a large and very punchable, kickable, and scratchable wart hog.

It takes a grand total of four instructors to pull Rose off of a crying and bloody Duke (she had hit his nose, nothing broke though). Two of the teachers lead Duke away to the nurses office – or possibly the infirmary; Rose got some good hits in there. The remaining two restrain a still fuming Rose and ask her repeatedly why she attacked another student. Though, her response stays the same every time they ask: "He hurt my charge. I couldn't let him get away with hurting my charge."

Her charge.

This girl can't be more than 8 years old and she has already declared a Moroi as her charge. She has already put her friend's feelings and comfort above her own – which is amazing because according to psychology she should just recently be getting over egocentrism. But there is no doubt that she has, what with her very different reactions to the insults thrown at her versus the insults thrown at Vasilisa. She definitely cares more for her friend than for herself. _They come first._

Rose's heart is already in the right place, and at such a young age too. She will become a great guardian, possibly "the bestest that's ever been alive", with the proper guidance. And, yes, I can already tell that she _will_ need guidance. Her fighting skills can, and will, be improved through the school's instruction, but her recklessness and impulsiveness will get her killed if they aren't tamed. She will need someone to balance her calmness and patience. Someone who will challenge her with discipline to push herself and teach her self-control. When that person enters her life she will be a force to be reckoned with.

"Who is that girl?" I ask Alto, nodding my head in her direction.

Alto straitens up at being addressed. "That is Vasilisa Dragomir; daughter of Prince Eric and Sabina Rhea Dragomir." He answers with enthusiasm, proud that this Academy is providing the education for such an elite and rare surname.

"No, the dhampir. What's her last name?"

"Oh," Alto's enthusiasm dims. "That's Rosemarie Hathaway."

Hathaway.

"She wouldn't happen to be related to Janine Hathaway, would she?"

"Guardian Hathaway is the girl's mother. Sadly, Rosemarie doesn't show any promising signs of following in her mother's greatness. Pity really."

"Yes," I say, staring at the wild child. She doesn't notice me though. She only has eyes for her friend, Vasilisa. Her charge. All of her worry is directed at the blonde Moroi even though _she_ is the one being pulled away by two teachers. She is selfless. "a pity."

Macy glances between Rose and I and smiles. She knows what I'm thinking. She always does. Alto, however, urges us to continue on with the tour and we comply, if only to get it over with.

An hour later we finish the tour, and I am immediately whisked away to give my "inspiring" lecture – at least that's how Guardian Petrov describes it when she introduces me to the elementary dhampir students. An hour ago I might've rolled my eyes at the brand, but now I really and truly hope these kids will find my speech to be inspiring. I want them to know that becoming a guardian is difficult and then actually _being_ a guardian is even harder. I want them to know that they will face trials of all kinds. Not just Strigoi related problems will confront them. Their own society will discriminate and underestimate them, and they will have to be more than physically strong in order to deal with that. I want them to know that I didn't get to where I am effortlessly and that there is a difference between taking risks and recklessness. There's a difference between being willing to die for someone and being willing to endure anything and everything in order to protect them.

I step up to the podium and look out at the audience. Roughly 500 sets of wide and expecting eyes stare at me like I'm about to give them the secret to life. I, of course, have no such information, but the wisdom I do have I hope doesn't leave them disappointed. I hope my words don't disappoint Rose. I seek her out in the crowd and spot her immediately. She is the only student sitting in the very back row with guardians on either side of her (undoubtedly a repercussion from attacking Duke).

Her eyes are wide, like everyone else's, and she is leaning forward in her seat with rapt attention, ready to soak up everything I have to say. When she notices my stare she becomes self-conscious, leaning back and sitting up straighter. To really overdo it she places her hands in her lap and levels her gaze to mine unflinchingly. I smile. Yes, with proper guidance she will be unstoppable.

I begin the lecture.

* * *

 **AN: Thank you so much for reading! Don't hesitate to let me know what you think!**

 **I hope you liked Arthur's perspective because I really enjoyed writing it. I'm thinking about maybe doing another one from his POV. I think it would be cool to possibly see Dimitri through his eyes. So let me know if you would like something else from Art. Also please tell me what you thought about Macy. She is my first original character that I've posted so I hope you liked her. Plus I added her because I feel like Arthur and Macy's relationship kind of explains why a famous guardian like Schoenburg decided to retire and work for such a small, and not as influential, royal family. I'd always wondered why he chose the Badica's and if you have too, well, now you know:)**

 **Also, can we take moment to appreciate 18 year old Alto? When I was writing the first draft of this, the tour guide was just some random guardian, but then I thought of Stan and was like, "Sure, what the heck." and I kind of liked it. Yes, he was annoying back then too.**

 **And finally, I KNOW for a fact (because you all are very bright people) that you know EXACTLY who will enter Rose's life in the future and make her "unstoppable." Hope that wasn't too cheesy to put it in there like that.**

 **I love you all! Have an out of this world day!**


	3. Women Troubles

**AN: Hi pals!**

 **This chapter takes place between Vampire Academy and Frostbite. I had wanted it to take place sometime _during_ VA, but it didn't work out since I wanted certain scenes to already have taken place, but then the timing would be wrong for Lissa's character and blah blah blah. But it doesn't matter because now this takes place _after_ Vampire Academy and all is well. Enjoy:)**

 **Disclaimer: If you are grossed out by menstrual cycles, then you might want to sit this chapter out. I mean, i don't go into _graphic detail,_ but Rose is on her period in this chapter so... things in relation to that will be mentioned. Sorry. Also, I apologize for the title. I'm trash at coming up with those.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy or its characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

 **Women Troubles: Rose POV**

"Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men."

While I have the inclination and experience to agree whole-heartedly with Joseph Conrad on this one, I would like to add something to the end of his quote.

"Being a woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men...and menstrual cycles."

Now, I understand that some women luck out and have "light" periods: minimal-to-no cramps, mild bleeding, no mood swings or cravings, and the whole thing might only last 2 or 3 days.

This is _not true_ in my case _,_ my friends.

In fact, if you look at what I just said and then think the exact opposite, that's my life for a whole week every month.

Please don't take this complaining as some secret desire to be a man – I happen to like smelling good and having all of my wits about me – but sometimes being a woman just...sucks. Like a lot.

I also am well aware of all of the medicinal remedies that I could possibly be taking, like Midol and birth control, or even just a simple asprin or tylenal. But here, at the esteemed St. Vladimir's Academy, we are not allowed drugs or medication unless they are prescribed or "absolutely necessary." (Yes, I have tried to argue that they are necessary, but to no avail).

Why, you may ask, am I explaining all of this?

Well, today has been a rough day…

"Ugh! I can't do it!"

"Yes, you can."

"That's easy for you to say! 60% of your classes don't involve physical strain!"

Lissa rolled her eyes at me from across the breakfast table and smirked knowingly. "Rose, you only have two classes that 'involve physical strain.'"

I crossed my arms defensively, her logical retorts weren't helping my already irritable mood. "Well yeah, but I also have my extra training with Dimitri the Russian jailer."

"Haven't heard you call him that in a while, you must be really ticked. Anyway, didn't he cancel this morning's session because Alberta had a job for him in town?"

"Yes," I mumbled.

"And won't he be gone the rest of the day, therefore, your end of the day session will be canceled too?"

"Yes," I growled. "Geez, who's side are you on, Lissa? The point is that I don't want to do _life_ today, mandatory, physically straining activities or not!"

She just laughed which made me grumble some "not nice" words, and that only made her laugh harder. "I'm getting another doughnut," I murmured, rising from the table.

"Hey Rose, can you get me a," - I shot Eddie a death glare that would've made even a Strigoi back down - "Um. Sorry. Never mind. Sorry." _Wise choice._

I made my way over to the breakfast line with my heart – and stomach – set on a chocolate covered cream stick doughnut. In fact, I was pretty sure that if I didn't get one, then I would die and then the world would implode and then the universe would collapse and then time itself would cease to exist. I wanted that freaking doughnut really freaking bad.

Upon making it to the front of the line, I saw that there was only one more left. I quickly snatched it up and shoved half of it into my mouth. Instant gratification. I decided not to go back to the table and instead went outside. I just needed to be away from people for a little longer before I had to spend a whole school day with them. Even Lissa was getting on my nerves with her positivity and rational thinking. Sadly, though, I was never _really_ alone. Not with the bond always keeping me company. I swear, if she tried pumping her happiness into me, I would find the thing she held most dear and destroy it. I'd probably buy her a new one of whatever it was, but definitely not until after my monthly-reminder-that-I-wasn't-pregnant was over.

What was with that anyway? The point of a period was to prepare you for giving birth. That's fine and all, but in order to give birth one had to first have sex. And my sex life was nonexistent. Very much still a virgin, folks. So...um...Universe...WHY DID I HAVE A PERIOD? No birthing was going to be happening anytime soon. Give this womanly curse to the people who actually had the potential to be cooking a bun in the oven i.e. _not_ _ **me**_.

Because of my bitter, yet _totally_ reasonable thoughts, I failed to notice that the end of the walkway was approaching rather quickly.

Yes. I tripped.

Did I fall? You bet.

Now, this was no ordinary fall. Oh no. That would be too easy. Too kind of mother nature. No, this fall was directly into a ginormous puddle of freezing, muddy, gross smelling water.

I resurfaced, sputtering and spitting to get the disgusting water out of my mouth. _You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me._ I just sat there for a moment, unsure of how to handle this situation right now. My emotionally unstable mind had already hit its breaking point and it wasn't even 8 pm yet. Logically, I knew that all I had to do was get up, go inside, and take a shower, but my traitorous body was on the brink of tears. That's right. Rose Hathaway was about to start crying because she fell into a puddle. Stupid hormones.

To make matters worse, at that moment, two of the senior novices walked by.

Miles and Anthony. Fanfreakingtastic.

"What do we have here?" asked Miles redundantly. "A Rose in water."

Anthony laughed in the way that only best friends laugh when the other person tells a really, really stupid joke, thus making the joke _seem_ funny and worth wasting oxygen on. When it wasn't.

I scowled at them both. "Walk away. And leave me alone," I growled.

"Oooo This Rose has thorns," Anthony remarked. Cue the stupid-joke-laugh from Miles.

"Like I've never heard that one before," I said, my annoyance growing to exponential heights. I was ready to rip these two morons' heads off.

"Come on, Rose. You didn't have to go through all of this to get _wet_ for me," - Anthony came and crouched by the puddle, whispering the rest - "I'd gladly get you there on my own."

I crinkled my nose in disgust. I needed to get away from these idiots before I did something that I wouldn't regret, but I'd definitely get in trouble for. Without responding to his lewd comment, I got up and began to walk away.

"Are you going to go change out of those clothes now?" Miles asked as I passed him. "Can I help?"

I whipped back around, fully prepared to _only_ tell him off with a few choice _words_ , but then I briefly glanced behind him and saw the other half of my beautiful doughnut floating in the puddle of mud water. That was a last straw.

Anthony had joined Miles again so they were both standing in front of me, looking up and down my clinging clothes appreciatively. Good. For once I was glad that my body was distracting. As long as they were looking at my chest and stomach, they wouldn't see the fist flying towards their faces.

Anthony, being the closest to my dominant hand, went down first. I punched him right in the eye, hard. While Anthony writhed and yelled on the ground, I turned my fury on Miles who put his arms up in order to protect his face, assuming I'd use the same tactic to assault him as I did his friend. Poor guy. I brought my knee up between his legs, and he went down quicker than Anthony. And since he was crouched in an unbalanced fetal position near the puddle, and since I felt like it, I pushed him in.

Brushing my hands off from the filth, I strode away. My mood was surprisingly better. This altercation had totally been called for.

* * *

"That was uncalled for, Rose."

I was in the head guardian's office, sitting in an uncomfortable chair across from Alberta Petrov, and she did not look happy. While I wouldn't put it past Miles and Anthony, they weren't the ones that ratted me out. A teacher had stumbled upon their still horizontal bodies soon after I'd left. In fact, it was _so_ soon that she'd actually seen me walking away from the scene. This is what I get for trying to take the high road first. Should've just clocked them both the second Anthony started getting creepy.

"I feel like that depends on your perspective," I said diplomatically.

Alberta sighed and massaged her temples. "Just...tell my _why_ you thought it was necessary to attack Novices Deem and Cole."

"'Attack' is a fairly extreme word for the situation, don't you think?"

"What would you call it, then?" she asked. "Anthony has a black eye and a slight concussion, and Miles is in a lot of pain."

I was unable to hold back a smile at which Alberta gave me a chastising look, knowing I was enjoying this all too much. "I'd call it defending my honor. Those boys were being...well, boys. Disgusting and inappropriate."

She sighed again, this time with more sympathy. "Look, Rose. You are a beautiful young woman and that's nothing to hide or be ashamed of, but the fact is that your looks draw some unwanted attention. Now, I know you know this, and I know you've had to deal with it over the past few years – which truly makes me upset – but you can't assault every lust and testosterone filled boy that looks your way. We have rules here."

What Alberta didn't realize, and what I didn't mind keeping to myself, was that I wouldn't have punched them on any other day. Of course I knew that my body was a head turner, and I'd pretty much gotten used to the stares or the occasional suggestive comment. The problem was that Miles and Anthony happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and on the wrong day. If I hadn't been on my period, or if I hadn't fallen in that puddle, or even if I hadn't seen the second half of my doughnut, then I probably wouldn't have hit them.

So instead of explaining all of this, I just said, "I understand."

And that was the end of that. Well, a full school day of detention was the end of that. So while Miles and Anthony went to class sporting a bruised face and a bruised...you know, I went to a secluded room where I was "to stay for the remainder of the school day."

At first I was ticked that I was being punished and Miles and Anthony were off the hook, but then I found that I liked this punishment. An isolated room away from people (except the monitor, but she stayed silent behind her desk so I hardly noticed her). That was exactly what I needed. Peace.

But then I started to grow uncomfortable, and the punishment was suddenly less appealing. Sitting in the hard chair was making me sore, and cramps had me biting my lip and gripping the desk every 10 minutes or so. I could tell the monitor was getting annoyed with me since I asked to go to the bathroom pretty much every hour. I couldn't wait to get out of here, and take a hot shower, and then finally just go to bed.

When I heard the final bell ring, signaling the end of the school day, I didn't even wait for the monitor to tell me I was dismissed. I just got up and speed walked out of there (running wasn't a preferred option right now).

I was halfway to my dorm, following the call of my bed, when I turned a corner and ran right into a well muscled and fantastic smelling brick wall. Nope. Just Dimitri.

Wait! Dimitri? What was he doing here?

"Dimitri, what are you doing here?" I asked, repeating my thoughts and taking a step back in the process – his aftershave was making me way too heady and his attractiveness just needed to go away for a week because my extra hormones were going crazy!

He smiled lightly (Ugh! Just stop, Dimitri!). "The errand that Alberta sent me on didn't take as long as we'd expected so I came back early."

"Well, now that you're back I'm sure you want to go get some rest. I'll leave you to it."

I started to walk past him, but he caught my arm. "Not so fast, Rose. I don't need to rest right now. It's not even close to sunrise."

He let go of my arm and I started backing away again. "You've just spent the whole day doing...whatever it is you were doing. Exhaustion will hit you any minute now, trust me."

"Rose, stop." He was using his serious mentor voice now. "I am uncanceling your end of the day practice. I expect to see you in the gym in 10 minutes."

"But -"

He held up a silencing hand. "Ten minutes." Then he walked away.

"Urrrrgggghhhh!" I cried out in frustration, kicking the wall (which then made me cry out in pain). I just couldn't win today, could I?

Back in my dorm room, I began to get ready for practice with Dimitri instead of getting ready for bed. My bed's cry for me was louder than ever as I donned my workout clothes, wincing as I pulled my sports bra on over my sensitive breasts. I promised my mattress a reunion soon and then I left.

When I arrived, Dimitri was already in the gym waiting for me (like always). Upon my entrance, he looked up from what appeared to be a small packet of papers. I forced out a smile as I set my bag down and then began stretching.

"So… you've had a busy morning," he said. _Oh no. Here we go._ The papers he'd been looking at must've been incident reports. "Want to talk about it?"

"Listen, Comrade. I have enough of those reports," - I pointed to the papers in his hands - "in my permanent record to know that you pretty much know everything you need to know: Novice Rose Hathaway punched Novice Anthony Cole in the face, leaving him with a minor concussion and bruising around his left cheek and eye. Novice Rose Hathaway kneed Novice Miles Deem in the gentiles and then proceeded to push him into a puddle."

He furrowed his brows. "You pushed him into a puddle?"

Oops. Apparently they left that part out. Maybe the teacher that found them assumed he just fell in after having his male pride damaged. "Um, no," I said, recovering nicely… not.

He shook his head in a way that said it didn't matter. "I didn't ask if you wanted to talk about it in order to get a retelling of the story. I want to know what happened with _you_. I want to know if you're okay. You wouldn't do this without a reason."

I wanted to cry at the way he was showing such concern for me and trusting that I had a good reason for my behavior. Even Alberta had brushed it off as me simply overreacting to brash commentary, but Dimitri knew me better than that.

Unfortunately, I wasn't in the mood to talk about the real reason I went haywire. Especially not with _him._ So I forced my excess emotions down and feigned a joking attitude.

"What other reason would I need besides the fact that it's _Miles_ and _Anthony_? If any two people ever needed a fist to the face or a knee to the groin, it's those two," I said smiling (and not totally disagreeing with myself).

"Rose -"

"Shouldn't we get started?"

He was aware of what I was doing, and there was no way that he was convinced that I'd acted out simply because I wanted to, but we'd already wasted enough time on this and he knew he'd get no where with me when I was being like this. So we moved on and got started.

Only 5 minutes in and I was already regretting my decision not to talk about what had happened earlier. At least then I'd be sitting down and relaxing, not running as fast as humanly possible on a track of death.

Dimitri finally stopped us when we reached 3 miles, and while he was preoccupied with writing down my time, which was around 2 minutes slower than usual, I used the opportunity to hug my breasts to me in an attempt to apologize for the pain I'd just put them through.

Back inside the gym, Dimitri put me on the bench press. Yes! I could do this! My arms had absolutely nothing to do with my current issues. If I was lucky, he would keep me on arm equipment for the rest of practice. This, however, was unlikely.

I laid back on the bench and began pumping the 85 pounds up and down over my head at a steady rhythm while Dimitri stood behind me, counting my breaths and spot checking.

After about 30 reps my arms were getting pretty tired, but I was still going strong. And I would've done more, but just then, as I was about to start my 31st rep, a particularly strong cramp hit me like a tidal wave. I cried out and my body reacted automatically by curling into a fetal position. My arms, already shaky from the workout, were unable to push the weight anymore so the bar rested on my chest, making it hard to breathe.

"Rose!" Dimitri jumped into action, quickly lifting the bar back to its stand and then rounding the bench to face me. "Rose, what just happened?"

"Nothing," I said as I struggled into a sitting position, pushing his hands away when he tried to help me. "I'm fine. I just couldn't do anymore."

He raised an eyebrow. "You've done a lot more than 30 in the past."

"Guess I'm just having an off day." _Ain't that the truth._

"Rose -"

"I said I was fine!" I snapped.

His face morphed into a hardness that I knew meant I'd gone too far. "Rose, I know we have grown to be comfortable around one another, but that being said, I am still your instructor and you are not permitted to interrupt me. That is the second time today you have spoken over me when I had something to say to you."

I looked down. Yes, Dimitri and I had a past – a very brief one, but still – but he was ultimately (and only) my mentor. I had to check myself and treat him with respect. "You're right. I'm sorry."

He sighed and when I looked up again his face had softened. "Rose, please say what's wrong. I normally wouldn't push you into telling me, but whatever it is is obviously hurting you and interfering with your training. I need to be aware of any physical limitations you're having. Also… you're worrying me."

Looking at his earnest expression, I knew he was right. Being my mentor, he had to know my physical capabilities. And while _I_ knew that what was happening to me right now was just a natural part of womanhood, his mind could be flying to any number of severe infirmities. If our roles were reversed – not that Dimitri would ever get a period (wow, weird thought) – I'd want to know what was going on because I loved him and would want to help in any way I could. Of course, I wasn't sure if Dimitri still reciprocated the feelings I had for him, but ultimately, with Dimitri, that didn't matter. He had too good a heart. He would be concerned whether he loved me or not – which was sweet, but really frustrating when one was trying to determine if he _did_ in fact still harbor feelings.

With my decision made, I nodded and looked at him levelly. He gave me a reassuring nod back and took one of my hands. I almost laughed at how dramatic this whole scene was becoming. He probably really _did_ think I was about to tell him about some kind of life threatening condition. I'd put his worries to rest soon enough, but first… I was gonna have a little fun.

"Well," I started, displaying a mildly distraught expression. "It's something I've been dealing with for about 4 years now."

I paused and he gently squeezed my hand in support, making the nerves in my hand light up. Yep, I was gonna milk this for all its got. Maybe I'd even get a hand on the shoulder or even better yet, a hug. S _igh._ It's so sad how desperate I've gotten for even the most innocent of touches. Such is the life of one depraved.

"At first it wasn't that bad. It would show up sporadically and with little consequences." Another pause for dramatic effect. "But then came the pain."

I looked away as if I were trying to compose myself, and he moved one of his hands to my shoulder, rubbing soft circles into my collar bone with his thumb. Victory!

"It's okay, Rose," he reassured me.

Okay, I couldn't do it anymore. Dimitri probably thought I had something truly serious like Sandovsky's Syndrome by now – which would be horrible not only because I'd die soon, but also because I'd mean I had something in common with Victor Dashkov, whom I hate.

I looked him in the eyes again and told him what was wrong. "I got my period."

He blinked.

Then blinked again.

"What?"

"I got my period. I'm menstruating. I'm having women troubles. I'm riding the crimson wave. I have blood flowing out of my -"

"I got it!" he quickly interrupted.

I smirked.

"So... on the track..."

"I was really sore."

"Just now on the bench press..."

"Really bad cramp."

"And earlier with Miles and Anthony..."

"I'd already been in a _mood_ when I fell into a puddle with half a doughnut in my hand. Miles and Anthony found me and started laying their 'charms' on thick," - his face darkened as he caught my meaning, - "and it annoyed me. I was ready to walk past them without any violence, but then Miles said one last thing that made me turn around. That's when I saw my poor uneaten half of a doughnut in the puddle, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I lost it."

When I finished, he was silent for a moment, and then he started chuckling. Actually c _huckling!_ Which soon turned into a full blown laugh. All the while, I just sat there, unsure as to what was so funny.

He composed himself a few moments later, yet continued to smile as if he couldn't help it. "So," he said. "you sent two boys to Dr. Olendzki because of a... doughnut."

My mouth dropped open. "Are… are you actually laughing _at_ me?!"

He was still smiling that gorgeous, heart-stopping smile, but right now I wanted to smack it off of his face.

"You have to admit, Rose, that that's a pretty trivial reason for doing anything, let alone kneeing the… male anatomy."

I narrowed my eyes. Having three sisters obviously hadn't taught him a _thing_ about what you do and don't say to a female during her time of the month.

"First of all, I don't need to admit _anything_! Second of all, countries have gone to war over doughnuts, so show a little respect. Third, it wasn't just the ruined doughnut that made me snap. It was a snowball effect. A collection of things. And finally, _never_ laugh at a girl or her reasons for why she does what she does when she is on her period, ever."

He held his hands up in surrender. "Noted. Anything else I should know?"

 _That you smell amazing and I really, really want to_ _press my cheek to your neck so I can just breathe_ you _forever_ _._

"Nope. But thank you for listening and, you know, taking the time to care."

At that, his amused smile softened to a warm one. "Of course, Roza. Any time," he whispered.

We sat in that moment for a little longer, just smiling at each other, but then he realized that his hands were still holding my hand and shoulder, and that seemed to make professionalism come crashing back. He removed his hands and I shivered, feeling the loss of heat.

"So," I said, trying to break this now awkward moment. "No practice for the next week?"

He snorted. "Nice try. I'll talk to the doctor today to see what we can do about that prescribed medication rule. That should help."

I had no doubt that Dimitri would be able to talk the good doctor down. He had a way of saying things that made you want to do whatever he said just to get his approval. Or maybe that was just me. I couldn't help it if I was biased.

"We are done with practice for today, Rose. The exhaustion from doing that errand has finally caught up with me."

Oh My Gosh! He was quoting me to be cute! Could he get _any more_ _sexy_?! I just wanted to rip his shirt off and -

Gah! Stupid hormones.

* * *

 **AN: Thank you so much for reading and please let me know what you thought in a review!**

 **So did we make it through without being totally grossed out? Personally, I wish more authors (when working with a female protagonist) would mention this part of a girl's life. It's fairly significant. I'm not saying I hope this starts popping up everywhere. It would probably get annoying to see after a while, but I read a lot of books with female protagonists and I've only ever read one that mentioned the leading lady going through this natural thing.**

 **I also hope it didn't get too serious between Rose and Dimitri for you. I started writing this with the hopes that it would be light and funny, but then it kind of got serious when Rose talked about trusting Dimitri and then, of course, there's the whole: "We pretty much saw each other naked, but have to pretend that that never happened and that we don't have feelings for each other." And that creates problems in dividing the line between friendship and mentorship. _BUT_ I tried to lighten it up a little after that. Sorry if it was too serious. I'll try to make my next Romitri one-shot fluffy.**

 **Thank you again for reading! I hope you have marvelous day!**


	4. Schoenburg 2

**AN: Hello my dears!**

 **This Deleted Scene takes place during Frostbite (or, I suppose, a few days before Frostbite). And yes, it's true. I have finally written the second one-shot from Arthur Schoenburg's POV that I alluded to. If any of you liked my character Macy and/or her relationship with Art, then you'll hopefully enjoy this chapter. And if you didn't, then hopefully you will enjoy this chapter anyway;)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or its characters. Richelle Mead owns everything except Macy.**

* * *

"Don't just stand there! Do something!"

I had just walked downstairs and into the kitchen – with the hope of whipping up some breakfast – when I was forced to freeze at the threshold as I took in the scene in front of me. Macy, my charge and the love of my life, was smudged from head to toe in what appeared to be a combination of flour, maple syrup, chocolate, and...was that egg in her hair? The kitchen itself held a similar appearance to Macy, give or take a few ingredients.

But while it looked like a bakery had exploded – or at the very least threw up – in the kitchen, it was the steadily growing fire on the stove and the way Macy was trying to fight it off (with the sink hose, in case you were wondering) that had me starring with wide eyes and an agape mouth.

"Help me!" she yelling while wielding her weapon of choice against the flames, but when the water hit it, it only made the fire jump and blaze higher. Macy shrieked and stepped back.

Her shriek spurred me into action. I grabbed the hose from her and threw it back into the sink. This was obviously a grease fire. Water wouldn't help. I ran from the room and came back with a thick leather jacket, and tossed it onto the stove. Without oxygen the fire died and Macy let out a sigh of relief.

With the danger and adrenaline gone I could finally fix my attention on Macy. She turned to me with a sheepish smile. "Morning, Dear." - she held out a plate with a few black, flat, disk-like things on it - "Pancakes?"

"May," I began slowly. "What were you thinking? I thought we agreed when we moved here that _I_ would be handling all things dealing with and relating to cuisine." Macy Badica perfected pretty much anything she put time and effort into. She had a long list of abilities and talents, but cooking was _not_ one of them.

She placed her flour covered hands on her hips and stood up straighter as stubbornness set in. "Maybe I was thinking that I wanted to make my fiance a romantic breakfast in bed rather than him doing it for me for once."

While I was upset that May had put herself in danger, nearly turning the kitchen into an inferno in the process, I couldn't help a smile.

Fiance.

After all of these years we were finally going to tie the knot. My pulse and joy spiked at the thought. It's not that we weren't ready or didn't want to take this step sooner – heck, I was ready to say my vows the moment I met her over two decades ago – but one thing was always standing in our way: the world. More specifically, _our_ world of dhampirs and Moroi, duty and discrimination, guardians and charges, protection and politics. A dhampir on the Guardians Council and a royal Moroi (daughter of the Badica Prince, in fact) couldn't be together romantically. I probably would've been demoted or possibly stripped of my Guardian status, and Macy definitely would've been shunned or even disowned, depending on how personally her father took the offense. I would never allow either of those things to happen to her, and on the flip side she'd never let those things happen to me. So we'd waited.

And waited. Until the time was right.

We had a plan. About 2 years ago we picked out this house (I mainly did the picking due to safety reasons), and Macy told her family that she was moving away from court. Her father was less than pleased about her stepping away from politics, but consented under the condition that she have the best guardian possible to protect her. Coincidentally, it was around this time that I had finished serving my 3rd and final term on the Guardians Council and was looking for a charge (quick lesson: never believe in coincidences). Prince Badica didn't waste anytime in requesting me for his "impulsive" daughter. I accepted.

So here we were, two years later, living together, and ready to give everything to each other in a secret wedding. Moroi records would still call us charge and guardian, but according to the humans we lived among and, more importantly, to us we'd be Mr. and Mrs. Schoenburg.

The future Mrs. Schoenburg smiled back and came to stand in front of me, wrapping her arms around my neck like a brace. I wouldn't give in to her though. At least not yet. "Seriously May, you could've gotten hurt. I don't mind doing the cooking in this home as long as it keeps the house from burning down."

She rolled her eyes and smirked. "That's why I have you, my knight in shinning armor. Tell me, what can a fair maiden give you in returned for saving her life?"

I glanced back at the stove and grimaced. "A new jacket would be nice."

She pulled me closer, pressing our bodies together and bringing my focus back to her. "Is there anything _else_ I could do to show my gratitude? Any...special favors?"

Her smile and body language were seductive and tempting, so I leaned in close and put my lips to her ear, making her shiver. "I do have a favor to ask," I whispered. She clenched me tighter. "Next time you decide to make a romantic breakfast and start a grease fire, I don't want to find you down here brandishing a sink hose. Grab your _own_ jacket and put it out."

She shoved me away and punched my shoulder for good measure while I laughed. "You are a tease, Arthur Schoenburg," she huffed with clear amusement in her eyes.

"And you, Macy Badica, are a _terrible_ cook. So how about _I_ make us a romantic breakfast that we can enjoy in bed, and we ignore this mess for at least a few more hours?"

Her arms were around me again and this time I indulged, placing my hands on her waist. "Sounds perfect," she said, and then she kissed me.

* * *

"Art," Macy called from the bedroom. "Can you come zip me up?"

It was a few days after the morning Macy nearly burned our house down. It had taken hours, but eventually we'd cleaned the kitchen to perfection. Macy wouldn't have it any other way. Especially because of tonight. Tonight we were having company, a very rare occurrence thanks to a certain secret relationship needing to be kept secret. But today was Macy's brother's birthday, and tradition called for Macy and her siblings to get together and celebrate.

I entered the bedroom and saw Macy with her back to me, holding up her hair so it wouldn't get caught in the zipper. The dress she had on was emerald green, her favorite color. It was simple, without flourishes, form fitting, and the hem ended a few inches past her knees. If I cared a lot about fashion (which I didn't) I would probably walk past it in a store, thinking it to be plain. But on Macy it was the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen. She was beautiful.

As I zipped her up, I told her so.

Smiling, she lifted her favorite strand of pearls to her neck, handing me the ends to fasten. "There," she declared. "I'm done. Did everything go smoothly with the wards?"

"Everything was fine, as usual. The warders left a little bit ago." I kissed her shoulder and her eyes met mine in the mirror. "With a great deal of money, I might add. When did wards get so expensive?"

May laughed softly, but her eyes were serious. "When the demand for them went up. But there hasn't been a big Strigoi attack in years. I wonder what's whipping people into a frenzy now?"

"Paranoia. Inactivity usually means planning, and planning leads to action."

"Since when do Strigoi have the patience to plan and collaborate?" she scoffed.

I shrugged. "I'm not saying that's what they're doing, but..."

"But it's a possibility," she finished for me.

I nodded.

"Well, that's what wards are for," she said, chuckling at the narrowing of my eyes. "And it's what our valiant, brave, amazing, daring, strong, and on occasion sexy" - I raised an eyebrow - "guardians are for as well."

"So," I said, tightening my arms around her. "Am I one of those _occasionally sexy_ guardians?"

She turned to face me with the same man-eating smile that I had fallen victim to all those years ago. And my reaction was the same as it had been then: complete adoration and love.

"What do you think?" she whispered, leaning towards me.

I responded in kind, meeting her halfway. And I had just barely felt the brush of her lips when my phone rang. I continued to hold her, intent on ignoring the offending device, but she pulled back and swatted at my hands.

"Answer your phone," she commanded, pulling out of my reach. "And thank whoever it is for saving my make-up."

" _You're_ the one who was going to kiss me," I called after her as she left the room, smirking at my expression.

Rolling my eyes, I answered my phone. "This had better be important," I told whoever it was on the other end.

"Hello Art."

Now there's a voice I hadn't heard in a long time. Not since the year I'd spent in Europe protecting a couple of American Zeklos dignitaries while they made connections with the Russian side of their family. That had been a bittersweet year. Bitter because it had been hard to be away from May for so long, but sweet because of the lifelong friendships I'd made there.

And Dimitri Belikov was one of them.

"Dimitri," I acknowledged, smiling at the rush of memories his name brought on. "How have you been, мой друг?" **[My** **friend** **]**

I was worried about what the answer would be. I'd heard about Ivan's death a little over a year ago, and I knew Dimitri would take it hard. Dimtiri and I might've been friends, but he and Ivan were once brothers. Pain like that doesn't ever go away completely, and – from my experience – it can only be eased with time, unburdening, and (as cheesy as it sounds) love.

"I've been well. Great, actually," I searched for deception in his voice and found none. Interesting. "So why should this call be important?"

"Lady Badica is having guests this evening and I was about to check the wards."

The half truth came out easily. I couldn't exactly tell him that I had been about to "lock lips" with my charge. Because while Dimitri was a good man, and I trusted him with my life, I didn't trust him with Macy's. I trusted no one beyond myself to protect the love of my life not only from Strigoi, but also the leaders of our government.

I could hear the amusement in his voice as he said, "For the 3rd or 4th time, no doubt."

I actually hadn't rechecked them at all. Macy, as she often did, held my full attention after the warders first came through. I'd have to do that later.

"So, Belikov," I said. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your call? Nothing serious I hope."

"Serious? Yes. Life or death? No. I actually have a favor to ask."

"Give me the details, and if it's within my power I'd be happy to help you out."

"Well, a student of mine needs to take her Qualifier -"

"I retired from the Guardians Council two years ago," I interrupted, surprised that he didn't know this. The Guardians Council was what you went to when Qualifiers needed to be scheduled. In fact, the guardians that performed the testing and questioning were selected from the Council. I'd lead quite a few Qualifiers in my day. "I can give them a call, though, and they will send a team over as soon as possible."

"Actually, Art, it's kind of an unusual situation. My student is a senior. She missed junior year, which is why she has yet to take the Qualifier."

"That is usual," I admitted. "But the Council has dealt with reschedulings and late students before."

"Yes," he began. "But the Council has never dealt with Rose Hathaway before."

Rose Hathaway.

My eyes widened. I'd first heard that name nearly 10 years ago on a visit to St. Vladimir's Academy. She was the wild child who had beaten a classmate to a pulp because he'd made fun of her Moroi friend. I'd admired her ambition (to an extent) back then, but Rose's name had come up quite frequently in recent years due to that ambition and, at times, reckless behavior. Yes, after surviving the Dragomir car crash, running away with their only daughter (not to mention the last of the Dragomir line), getting found two years later and brought back to the Academy, and then directing and assisting a rescue team to retrieve the Princess after being kidnapped by the reason they ran from the Academy in the first place, Rose had created a name for herself. In the dhmapir community she was quite famous – or infamous depending on who you asked.

"She needs to pass her qualifiers in order to graduate," he continued. "but I'm afraid that the council will look at her and only see the black marks on her record, when, in fact, she has work hard to make strides towards becoming a capable guardian."

"You want me to give her her qualifier," I said.

"Correct."

"Why come to me, Belikov? You know I'm not the type of person to be lenient just because she's your student and you're asking."

"I know, Art. You're the kind of person who will look at past actions, consider them, and then determine if that past was learned from or if mistakes will continue to be made routinely in the future. I want you to give Rose the qualifier because when you look at her you'll see what I see: a determined girl that will one day become a great guardian."

 _I will be the bestest guardian that's ever been alive._

Rose's words from 9 years ago came back to me _._ She had been so passionate then, decided even. As if she could be the best simply because she _chose_ to be the best. And in a way, I suppose, that is how you become the best. Only rather than a choice, you are presented with a series of _choices,_ and even then those choices only matter if you follow through.

Well, I'm sure many people can attest to the fact that Rose follows through, however, her choices as of late have been questionable. One could argue that in her attempt to protect the Princess she actually put her in more danger. On the other hand, no one would've believed her if she'd told them the Dashkov Prince was planning on kidnapping Vasilisa. So while her decision to get the Princess away from the Academy was a correct one, she was too impulsive in the way she went about it. A good guardian will take the time (if he or she has it) to look at all of their options and resources before taking any action. This is what keeps the Moroi safe. It's what makes you the best.

"So will you do it, Art?"

"Yes," I said. I had yet to formally meet Rose, and I found myself eager to do so. "When?"

"Sometime this week would be preferable, but since you will be the only one giving the Qualifier we can come to you at anytime you are available."

"Don't trouble yourself, Dimitri. I wouldn't mind making the trek to the Academy."

"I insist. No need to bother your charge. There's also her safety to consider and all of the extra measures that would have to be taken. Unless Lady Badica has any objections, then Rose and I coming to you is the best option."

The ever practical Dimitri was right of course. And I couldn't exactly use, "Macy and I would actually enjoy a long car trip together. One where we could possibly get stranded in a snowbank, and only body heat would keep us alive" as an excuse. In the end, logic would have to win over desire. I would be a hypocrite if I chided Rose for not looking for a better option and then I chose to do what made the least sense myself.

"Suit yourself. But if the snow gets too much for you, and you have to sleep off to the side of the road in the car, or worse, in one of those hole in the wall motels, then don't say I didn't warn you."

There was a pause on the line. When Dimitri finally spoke it was gruff and short, like he was trying to change the subject.

"We'll be fine. The weather isn't supposed to be too bad this week. We'll be fine."

I didn't know if he was trying to tell me or himself. I wouldn't have joked if I knew he was so nervous about driving.

"Are you sure you don't want us to make the drive?" I offered.

"No. I'm sorry. I was just worried about Rose's training. Skipping one day to take the qualifier is fine, but she can't afford to miss two."

I laughed. "You are too hard on your students Dimitri."

"I have to be especially hard on this one." His tone was lighter again. "After all, my mentor was hard on me."

Ah. So he wasn't only her teacher. He was her mentor. The person to balance her calmness and patience, challenge her with discipline to push herself, and teach her self-control. If Dimitri wasn't the perfect person for that – for Rose – then I don't know who was.

"With your skills, I imagine she was. So how does… Thursday sound? Noon?"

That would give Macy and I two days to clean up whatever mess we made at the party tonight: one day to ignore it, and one day to stress, speed clean.

"Thursday will be fine. Again, thank you for doing this, Art."

"My pleasure, Dimitri. It will be good to see you again."

"Likewise. Till Thursday."

"Till then."

Macy was waiting for me when I came down the stairs.

"What took you so long? Zach, Cammie, and the kids will be here any minute!"

"What about Abby?"

She rolled her eyes. "Abigail is never on time. I won't be expecting her for at least an hour."

Then she began fussing over everything in the house: the hors d'oeuvres, the placement of the pillows on the couches, the curtains, the stack of presents for Zach.

"That was Dimitri Belikov on the phone."

She stopped scurrying about, looked at me, and smiled. "Dimitri! That lovely man you met in Russia!"

"Why do you call him 'lovely' whenever I mention him?"

"I call everyone who saves your life 'lovely'," she shrugged. "So why did he call?"

"He asked me to give a qualifier test to his student."

"But you don't do that anymore."

"I'm making an exception. Dimitri's situation is kind of tricky."

"What's the situation?"

"Rose Hathaway."

Macy's face lit up again. "Rose! That lovely little girl we saw at St. Vladimir all those years ago!"

"Rose never saved my life."

"No, but she did beat the snot out of that playground bully."

"You hate violence."

She shrugged then continued to gush about Rose. "I can't wait to meet her! I bet she's beautiful all grown up. That thick, dark hair was the first thing I noticed about her, that and her feistiness. I hope she didn't cut it short. We should invite her over for dinner sometime. I'm sure she's charming. Don't you think -"

"Macy," I cut her off. "We don't need to invite her over. The qualifier is taking place here. She and Dimitri are coming to the house on Thursday."

Her eyes widened, first in shock then in anger.

"Arthur! After today the house will be a mess and completely unpresentable for guests. What were you thinking? Only two days to -"

It was then that the doorbell rang.

 _Saved by the bell._

Her expression said I'd be doing most of the cleaning, then she gave me an all too quick peck on the lips before we had to slip into guardian and charge mode for the rest of the night and clicked on her heels to the door.

Three high pitched "Aunt Macy!"s were the first things that I heard upon her opening the door.

Then Macy was attacked.

But rather than pulling my stake and jumping into action, I smiled as I watched her three nieces bear hug their aunt.

"Elizabeth! Rebecca! Rachel! Be careful!" chastised their mother.

"It's okay!" Macy laughed. "I've missed them too."

"If you would move back to Court then you'd see them everyday," said the only masculine voice thus far.

"Yes, but then I'd have to see you everyday, too."

The girls giggled and Zach feigned offense. "You do know it's my birthday, right?"

"All the more reason to tease you."

Everyone was ushered inside, coats were taken, feet were wiped, and while the children rushed to the kitchen to find anything edible, the adults moved to the sitting room.

I took a proper position near the door of the sitting room, and I noticed that Guardian Solomon, Zach and Cammie's guardian, took up a similar position in the kitchen.

Eventually the kids joined the rest of the family which allowed Joe and I to talk.

"So where's Lady Abby Badica and Ed? Should've gotten here by now, don't you think?" he asked

"Townsend's always been over cautious. He'll go slow on the roads, and that combined with Lady Abby's tendency to be tardy will make them 'very late' as apposed to just 'late'."

Joe smiled. "We can punish him for it by putting him on ward checking duty."

The wards.

I hadn't checked them since they were laid down. I'd meant to do it before everyone arrived, but I'd gotten side tracked. I couldn't do it now. I couldn't leave Guardian Solomon with six Moroi in such an open space. It would have to wait until Townsend got here.

Wards were trustworthy, though. I'm sure it'd be fine.

* * *

 **AN: So what did we think? I know the end was kind of depressing since we all know what happens. And I'm sorry if any of you were disappointed that I didn't include the actual Strigoi attack. I thought about it, but the more I thought about having to write gory and tragic deaths for these characters that I've gotten attached to (not to mention all of the children), the more I realized that I really didn't want to write that. Sorry.**

 **A few things:**

 **1) I'm sure a few of you were looking at the names of Macy's family and their guardians and thinking, "huh? Where have I heard those names together before? Am I going crazy?" No, you are not. I fairly recently read the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter and have fallen in love, so all of the names came from the main characters in those books. And to answer your question: No. I didn't name Macy after Macey McHenry in GG. I had written the first Schoenburg chapter before I even knew those books existed. Which is sad. Everyone should know those books exist because they are amazing. So if you've never read them, this is me giving you lovely people a book suggestion;)**

 **2) Did you guys catch the direct quote from Frostbite in here? I couldn't help myself. Arthur says that he wouldn't mind making the drive because he and Macy might "get stranded in a snowbank, and only body heat would keep us alive." That is a Rose quote (obviously) and I thought it might be funny and ironic to put it in here. Hope some of you enjoyed that!**

 **3) Macy overreacted and rambled on about Rose because she has always wanted children, and since she never plans to be with anyone except Art, and because they can't have kids due to the fact that it would be dhampir (yikes! The world would know), and because she's probably too old to have kids anyway (I have her aged around 50ish BTW), she immediately lights up in a motherly way at Rose's name. She admired Rose for what she did when she was a child and so she is excited to see how her character has developed and how she has grown since the only children she's ever really seen grow up have been her nieces.**

 **4) I really do hope you enjoyed reading this! I know a few of you wanted to see Dimitri through Art's eyes and I hope I did a decent job of that. Please leave a review or a comment. I would love to know what you think!**

 **5) Have an outstanding day!**


	5. Here comes the sun

**AN: Hello my loves!**

 **This Deleted Scene once again takes place between Vampire Academy and Frostbite. (I know most of these chapters have been placed between these two books. It's just an easy time to work with and manipulate when it comes to Romitri, but i promise i will expand) I also have it placed before both chapters 1 and 3.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or its characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

 **Here comes the sun: Rose POV**

"No swimming outside of training. No wandering off the camp's grounds. No male and female fraternization. No leaving your rooms after sunrise. No destruction of property. And no slacking."

It might've been just me, but I could've sworn Alto was punctuating every one of his sentences with a hard glare in my direction.

"This is not a vacation," he continued. "We are here to train and work. I expect you to act as if we were at the Academy."

At that, Mason, who was standing beside me, leaned over and whispered, "Because we're complete _angels_ on Academy grounds," causing me to snort.

This made Alto's head come whipping in my direction, because of course he only heard my barely audible noise and not Mason's sarcastic joke. I swear the man had selective hearing. That or he just didn't like me.

His eyes found me immediately and narrowed.

Yep, he just didn't like me. Well, feelings were mutual.

"Is there something you'd like to add, Hathaway? Anything I've missed that you'd like to inform the group of?"

I gave him my most innocent smile. "Why no, Guardian Alto. I do believe you've covered all of the bases."

"Thank you for your stamp of approval," he sneered.

"No problem, sir. You do know how much pride I feel when you take the time to confer with me. I understand if you need me to make sure you remembered everything."

This caused a chorus of giggles and snickers to erupt from my class, and Stan's face to get red with anger. I smirked at both reactions, knowing this only added to my smart-mouth, reckless, untouchable reputation among my peers. However, I winced internally. I was stuck out here with Stan as our lead instructor for a week. Usually Stan didn't need an excuse to be hard on me, but after that comment, I knew he was gonna make my life hell for the next week.

By "out here" I meant a fancy retreat center that was typically used by humans, and was located – here's the important part – near a beach. With large, luxurious lodges, indoor plumbing, and immaculately groomed grounds, the site hardly resembled a "camp" like Alto had suggested. No, this was a place where the wealthy went when they wanted to feel outdoorsy. Now, normally the Academy would never go to such lengths for us dhampir, but this was the only area within reasonable flying distance of the Academy that we could rent out completely without any fear of being disturbed or noticed by humans. So here we were.

"Hathaway," Stan practically growled. "I'm warning you now. It would be in your favor to keep your attention seeking comments to yourself this week."

I was struck speechless for a second (only a second) by the fact that he'd just called me "attention seeking", and was about to protest when he yelled out a "dismissed" and everyone scattered to grab luggage and pick out the best rooms. I wasn't worried. Meredith would find something for us, so I took my time and lazily flopped onto the ground, using my duffel bag as a pillow.

Mason apparently trusted Eddie to snag them a decent room, as well, because a moment later he was lying beside me, knitting his fingers behind his head in a relaxed position.

"So what's the plan, Hathaway? Parties on the beach? Take a _borrowed_ boat for a spin? Late night swims… naked?"

I smiled. All of those would be things I'd've taken interest in (and probably would've done) only a handful of months ago, but so many things had changed in that time. His suggestions didn't hold the same appeal. Don't get me wrong, I was a _long_ way off from being a stickler to the rules. Reckless Rose was still alive and kicking, but a _certain influence_ in her life liked to point out her responsibilities (often), causing her eagerness to dim.

"Tempting, but none of the above," I told him, laughing as he clutched his chest in an overly dramatic mock heart-attack.

"You're telling me that you actually plan on following the rules while we're on – wait, what are those things called where it's warm and fun and, I don't know, _not_ Montana? Oh right, a _beach!_ Very uncharacteristic of you to pass up a chance like this."

"Gotta keep up that unpredictable reputation somehow."

"Yeah, but -"

"No alcohol. No stealing. No nudity."

"You sound like Stan," he sighed. "You know, Lissa isn't here right now. You can let loose a little."

I winced. This trip was only for dhampir students, seeing as we were only here to "train and work", and it had been hard for me to get on the plane and leave Lissa behind. I couldn't protect her if I wasn't with her, and that knowledge hurt almost like a physical pain, strengthened by the fact that we were bonded. Still, a perk of being bonded was that I could sense her and monitor her safety from here, and I certainly wasn't going to jeopardize muting the bond by drinking.

"Drop it, Mase," I told him in what he often referred to as my "scary voice".

He wisely closed his mouth while we watched the dark sky slowly grow lighter with each passing minute. We couldn't have been lying there for more than 5 minutes, but somehow, within that time, Mason managed to subtly get closer to me. I flinched only slightly when his arm brushed and then rested against mine.

I felt his stare on me, but refused to turn my head to face him, knowing that if our eyes met he'd probably say something both of us would regret. Sunsets, according to human books and shows, were romantic and poetic and made people say and do stupid things (yes, the sun was rising, but that was our version of a sunset). Thankfully I was immune to it's "power", having seen more than enough sunsets to last me forever due to Dimitri's insistence on starting our one-on-one practices while it was still light outside.

Speaking of Dimitri…

A tall, dark figure appeared and loomed over us, striking some kind of fear into Mason that made him quickly jump way from me and to his feet. I threw an arm over my eyes and smiled. Leave it to Dimitri to unintentionally save me. It was like he couldn't help himself.

"Ashford. Hathaway. Don't tell me you already plan on breaking the rules 15 minutes after we got here."

"Would it help if I told you I've broken rules much faster than that in the past?"

"I – uh. Guardian Belikov. We, um, we weren't – I mean. Rose and I -"

"I meant that you're both about to break curfew," Dimitri interrupted before Mason could hurt himself.

"Right. Curfew. I should go make sure Eddie got us a room by the library. Wouldn't want to fall behind in my studies." And with a smirk in my direction, he began jogging to the lodges.

And then there were two.

Wordlessly he extended a hand down to me which I took without hesitation. Once on my feet, we both started walking in the direction Mason had gone.

"So comrade," I said, breaking the silence. "What's it gonna be like tomorrow? How should I prepare myself for what Stanny boy is going to throw at us?"

"You know I can't tell you that. And any preparation you might attempt, you can't do while in your room."

"I could meditate."

Dimitri snorted. "You've never meditated in your life."

"Have you never heard the saying that there's a first time for everything? I mean, what if the water is a metaphor for our souls and Stan wants to take us on a spiritual journey to find ourselves before we throw our lives into the guardian work force?"

This made him laugh. "I doubt that that's what Guardian Alto is planning. In fact, I know it's not since I helped lay out the exercises you'll be completing."

"How reassuring," I said, making a face. I knew better than anyone how _fun_ Dimitri's physical exercises could be.

At this point my train of thought went from innocent to gutter-ish, so I quickly distracted myself by saying, "At least tell me why we are keeping up with the vampiric schedule while we're here. It's not like we're weakened by the sun or are going to burst into flames."

"No, but your circadian rhythms are running on a vampiric schedule and we need you all to be well rested for the new training criteria we are giving you this week. If we switch your sleep schedule then it might take you up to two days to recover, which is already a decent portion of our time here, and then when we go back to the Academy it will take you two more days to get back into your normal rhythm. Making the change would just be a time waster."

"But don't you ever just... miss the sun?" I asked, and his eyes softened.

We reached what was apparently designated the "girl's lodge" and were now conversing just outside of the giant wooden doors that I'm sure were made of something ridiculous like mahogany. I faced Dimitri and leaned against the wall, waiting for his answer and hoping it wouldn't be some logical explanation, with words like sar-kay-di-whatever in it, as to why the sun need not be missed.

He smiled and looked to where the sun was just starting to peak over the water, causing a rainbow of warm colors to dance across it. His expression became wistful yet content, almost vulnerable, so I knew his answer even before he turned back to me and said in a low voice, "Yes, I miss the sun."

I smiled back at him, happy that he shared such a minuscule, yet important, thing about himself with me.

"Don't worry, Rose. You'll get to be in the sun on this trip," he assured me, returning to a less bear-my-soul countenance.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Because you will be up an hour before the sun sets, meeting me in this exact spot."

I groaned. "I was kind of hoping our sessions would be put on hold for the next week."

"And I was hoping I wouldn't have to catch you out after curfew, yet here we are."

I scowled at him. "The sun hasn't fully risen yet," I argued.

"Then you'd better get inside before it does."

"If I do, then your wish will come true, so it would only be fair if mine came true as well, don't you think?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "Your Rose-logic won't work in this situation. I expect to see you here at our usual time tomorrow." I huffed a dramatic sigh. "Besides," he added. "I have a feeling I'll be seeing you out after curfew anyway sometime this week."

"Have a little faith, comrade," I said as he pulled open the door for me and I stepped inside.

"I've known you long enough, Rose, to _count_ on you breaking curfew."

"Oh, I didn't mean that." I began to walk away, but then threw over my shoulder, "I meant have a little faith in my ability to not get caught."

He let out an exasperated sigh and then I heard the door close. I smirked. This was certainly going to be a fun week.

The next morning, despite my earlier protests, I met Dimitri outside the girl's lodge, as per his instructions. Donned in a spandex sports bra, the Academy's customary one-piece swimsuit, and a pair of my favorite sport shorts, I was ready for training on land, in water, or otherwise. With a nod of approval at my attire, Dimitri and I began the half mile jog through the trees to the beach.

Honestly, I was excited. From the lodges it was easy to see the ocean, but the area between the two was covered in trees, making it impossible to see the beach. The last time I'd been to one was with Lissa while we were still running from the Academy. I had loved it. The waves. The sand. The sun.

I _loved_ the sun. Even now I could feel its warm rays enticing me forward.

Of course, when visiting the beach back then, the sun had always been the problem. I could bask in it forever, feeling perfectly content, but Lissa would be drained after only an hour, and she came first. So we'd leave the sun behind and I'd just make her buy me tacos later.

When Dimitri and I finally broke through the trees, I couldn't hold back a face-splitting grin. I watched in fascination as white-capped waves tore through the water, growing smaller and smaller as they neared the shore, till they finally hit the sand with an almost gentle caress before drawing back into the ocean. Beautiful.

I looked at Dimitri to see if his reaction was similar to mine, but he wasn't watching the ocean. He was watching me, a faint smile tugging at his lips. I turned away and began stretching to hide the faint blush tinting my cheeks. _Pull yourself together, Rose. You blush for no man._

After stretching, Dimitri joined me for a 10 mile run. I usually had a hard time keeping up with Dimitri anyway, but today I was seriously struggling. It felt like I was running through glue as every footfall sank into the sand. I became angry knowing I had to be going a fraction of my normal speed, but Dimitri gave no indication that he thought I was doing poorly so I just kept running.

At the last quarter mile Dimitri, who was a few paces ahead, called back to me. "See that dune up there? That's where we stop. So push yourself during this last leg."

I wasn't sure of everything he said because all I heard was, "Race me to that dune." So with all of the energy I had left I forced my muscles into overdrive and picked up my speed. My legs shouted a few profanities at me and my lungs cursed the day I was born, but eventually we made it to the dune. Dimitri first and me following a couple seconds after.

I collapsed without grace onto my back, heaving air into and out of my body. Sweat slid down my temples and back in rivets and my face burned red from exertion. I hadn't been this exhausted from running in a long time. Leave it to Dimitri to find a new way to torture me using something as simple as running.

Said Russian, of course, was standing in front of me, looking like he could go another 10 miles right now. His breathing was slightly heavier than normal and sweat coated his brow and darkened his t-shirt between his pectorals, but other than that he was fine. I would've punched him if I wasn't too busy trying to sit up.

"No...fair," I managed between breaths. "You have… all of that… experience… trudging through… arctic wastelands."

He rolled his eyes, but smiled as he said, "You did well, Rose. Running on sand is new to you and yet you still managed to keep a decent time."

My body reacted to his praise automatically, straightening up (as best it could on the ground) and adjusting itself to the proper position so that my breathing and pulse could recover more quickly. _How did he have this kind of effect on me?_

The period of rest sadly ended when I was able to breathe normally again, and he had me doing all of the common work-out exercises: sit-ups, crunches, push ups, lunges etc. By the time we were finished and started to head back for breakfast, the sun was nearly gone and twilight had descended, turning everything gray. I missed it already. That single hour of end-of-the-day light wasn't enough. It was a shame that I'd be living the rest of my life at night. Don't get me wrong, guarding Lissa was my duty and my choice – I would die before I had it any other way – but guarding a Moroi came with sacrifice. A minor one being the lack of sun exposure. I was fully prepared to give up that, my life, and everything in between for my charge, but right now, while we were still in high school and Lissa was safely behind multiple wards and dozens of guardians, I wanted to enjoy and indulge in something that I'd eventually have to give up for good. Like Mason had said, we were on a _beach,_ and that opportunity shouldn't be wasted.I decided then that it wouldn't be.

After breakfast, I returned to the beach, this time with my class in tow. Most of them had never even seen the ocean before, and it showed. The wonder quickly left their faces, however, when Alto began screaming orders into a megaphone.

"NOVICES! START STRETCHING! ONCE YOU HAVE FINISHED I WANT TO SEE THREE MILES! ANYONE WITH A TIME MORE THAN 10 MINUETS GETS ANOTHER MILE! BEGIN!"

"As if his voice wasn't loud and obnoxious enough," Eddie murmured, stretching his hamstrings.

"How long do you think he's been waiting to use that thing?" Mason asked.

"Well now we know why he seemed so excited for the trip," I added, already thinking up ways Stan's new toy could end up _misplaced_.

"HATHAWAY!" I jumped and spun to face Alto – who was now only a few feet away from me. "WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE?"

I cringed away from the ear-splitting demand. "I already stretched earlier with Guardian Belikov."

"THEN YOU SHOULD BE RUNNING! AND SINCE YOU HAVE SO MUCH TIME TO KILL YOU MIGHT AS WELL RUN THE EXTRA MILE!"

"That's not fair!"

"MOVE HATHAWAY!"

I turned to Eddie and Mason for help, but they just shrugged with looks of pity.

Cowards.

Whatever. Four miles was a piece of cake. Heck, I ran 10 this morning. What was four more? When everyone else began to join me, I watched as their brows pinched in frustration – much as mine had earlier – every time the sand sucked at their shoes. It was then I realized why we were out here in the first place. We had no idea where we were going to be sent when we graduated. We didn't know who our charges would be (well, _they_ didn't know), where we would be stationed, or the environment we would be living in. In Montana we got plenty of wilderness and snow, but not much water and sand. We needed to be prepared for anything. What if our future charge, say… fell off their yacht? We would be expected to jump in and save them, and swimming in the ocean is very different from swimming in the Academy training pool. Thus, the need to step outside of our comfort zones and expand our knowledge to different surroundings.

Before the last people had even finished, Stan was already shouting new orders. "TIME FOR A SWIM LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! EVERYONE PUT ON A BELT THEN AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS!"

All of the guardians out here with us (there were six not including Stan) held cases that contained a bunch of green, water-proof belts. At first I was confused as to why we needed to wear belts to swim, but then I saw the switch, and once I clicked it on, the belt lit up and a small red light started beeping. The sky and the water were nearly pitch black by now. Only the moon, stars, and single light fixture that the guardians had set up made it possible to see. These would keep us from getting lost in the ocean.

"LISTEN UP! FOR THE NEXT EXERCISE, YOU WILL BE REQUIRED TO SWIM OUT TO THAT BUOY," - he pointed to something about 300 yards from the shore that was glowing yellow and bobbing up and down with every passing wave - "AND BACK."

Groaning, we took off our excess clothes – the girls their shorts and the boys their shirts – and prepared to jump into the ocean. I took a few deep breaths in order to bring my pulse down, knowing a crucial part of intense swimming was one's breathing. Bring air in and release slowly. We'd been taught this since we'd first learned to swim.

The near frantic sound of someone breathing had me looking to my right. Shane Reyes, a close friend of Mason's, was almost to the point of hyperventilation. Apparently not everyone had retained the lesson. "Shane," I said, sidling up to him. "What's going on?"

"Rose, a-are there – do you think there's a chance? I-I mean are there going to be, um, will there be..."

"Shane!"

"Sharks. Are there going to be sharks in there?"

I sighed in sympathy. We all had phobias, and unfortunately this was Shane's. "I'm not going to lie to you, Shane. Yes, there are sharks in the ocean," - his breathing grew even more erratic - "but none are going to bother us. I highly doubt that his area has even seen a shark in years. It's not populated by any major food source and I'm pretty sure it isn't a breeding ground or anything. We'll be fine." And then I added, "But you won't be if you don't calm down. Breathe."

He tried taking some deep breaths and that seemed to help, but he continued to shake. I hoped he would pull himself together once we hit the water. We may only be training, but this was still dangerous, life-threateningly so.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE," Alto shouted. "BEGIN."

I took off, running into the water – which was freezing by the way – till I couldn't anymore, and from that point I jumped. With my whole body submerged the cold nearly took my breath away, but I quickly recovered and started to swim.

Usually when I swam I could easily find a rhythm of strokes, kicks, and breaths and stick to it, but usually when I swam it was in a pool. The ocean was _completely_ different. Waves made it impossible to enter into a steady rhythm because they were unpredictable. A small wave would come and I'd easily go above it, but then a really big wave would follow and, unless I wanted to get slammed in the face, I'd have to go under it. Out here I couldn't zone out or slip into numbness, I had to anticipate, maneuver, and actually fight against the water that tired to force me back to shore.

I could feel my muscles burning while I pushed them to give it their all. This was definitely one of the tougher workouts the Academy had conjured up, but I found myself enjoying it. Sure it was hard, but I knew I could do more. Once we got back to the beach, Alto was going to have another exercise for us and I would put my body through that too because I could. Because I was strong. Because I had worked harder than I ever had in my life these past months so that I could be the best guardian possible for my charge. If Lissa ever fell off a yacht, I would jump in and swim as hard as I needed to in order to save her. Then I'd probably laugh at her, but you get my point.

Finally I, along with a few other novices, reached the glowing buoy. Making a U-turn, I started heading back towards the shore. It was much easier on the way back because the waves were working in my favor instead of pushing against me. This last leg would be a piece of cake.

Of course nothing was ever that simple for me.

I was still about 220 yards away from the shore when I heard the screaming. I stopped swimming and looked around, immediately spotting Shane only 20 feet to my right. He was screaming and kicking and thrashing around like he was possessed or something. Every few seconds he would go underwater and would come up gasping. This would only cause him to freak out even more. The poor guy looked like he was having a panic attack.

I quickly swam over to him and started yelling, "Shane! What's wrong? Shane, calm down! What's going on?"

His wild movements only intensified. "I felt something!" he screamed. "It was a shark! Oh God, help! Help!"

This was bad. Telling him that there was no shark wasn't going to help, and by this point I was pretty sure he actually _was_ having a panic attack. He stopped screaming and was now hyperventilating. On top of that, he was no longer treading water and his flailing only hurt his fight to keep his head from going under. He would resurface choking because his uncontrolled breathing caused him to suck in water. This created even more of a panic. He was drowning and I couldn't go get help. There was no time. So I reacted on instinct. I grabbed Shane and tried to pull him to safety.

But Shane wasn't focused on getting to shore. He was worried about the non-existant shark and staying above the water. In his panic he grabbed me, digging his nails into my skin, and pushed me under, using me as a life preserver of sorts. I tried to push against him, but he was much bigger and stronger than me. I clawed and scratched at him, but he was beyond feeling pain. He was high on adrenaline, fighting for his life, and so was I, but I was failing. I kicked my legs as hard as I could in an attempt to lift us both above the water, but a particularly large wave hit, rocking us, and Shane kneed me in the stomach which knocked my remaining breath out of me.

My lungs burned like a fire had been lit inside of them and my head pounded, screaming for oxygen to reach my brain. I felt my body start to weaken. Muscles refused to work anymore so my kicking and pushing ceased. My vision began to blacken and I knew I was losing consciousness. How long had I been under here? Four? Five Minutes? This was it.

Then it wasn't. I was forcefully yanked out of the water and pulled against something warm and hard. Then I was laid down and something pressed against my mouth, blowing air into it. Forcing life back into me. This happened a few more times till finally the water decided it was time to exit my lungs. Rolling to the side, I gagged and coughed so hard it hurt and salt water blazed an agonizing path up my throat. Strong braces wrapped around me as I continued to expel water from my body, soothing me somehow, anchoring me to life.

When I finished, I was breathing so hard I thought my chest would burst, my heart was pounding, and my limbs felt like jelly. Those strong braces seemed to know that I wasn't able to function, so I was lifted and placed in a lap.

A lap?

I blearily looked up and saw Dimitri. He was studying me with wide, terrified eyes, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was trembling. I smiled weakly and scratched out a greeting. "Hey, comrade." I winced. My throat still hurt from the coughing.

"Shh Roza," he whispered. "You're going to be okay now." He closed his eyes and his arms around me tightened. "You're okay. Thank God you're okay."

His words settled over me. I was okay. I wasn't dead. But… what about…, "Shane!" I rasped, trying to sit up. But Dimitri held me in place.

"Shane is fine," he assured me. "Guardian Alto took him to shore since he didn't need immediate mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

It was then I realized two things. 1) I was, in fact, not on the beach, but in Dimitri's lap on a jet ski. 2) The thing I had felt pressed to my mouth earlier was Dimitri's lips.

Oh. My. Gosh.

My face steamed, but thankfully he couldn't see because it was dark. This moment was going to live in my memories forever. I knew I was going to have dreams of a hot, naked Dimitri riding a jet ski long after this night. (Now I just needed to see him on a mechanical bull… or a unicorn.)

"How are you feeling?" he asked, jarring me from my, erm… inappropriate thoughts.

"Like I just swallowed an ocean and it went down the wrong pipe," I confessed. "Otherwise… I'm fine."

He smiled faintly. "Good. Then I can be mad at you for doing something so stupid!"

Well that took a drastic turn. "Um… what?"

"Never try and rescue a drowning person by simply grabbing them and trying to pull them out of the water. You need a flotation device or, at the very least, something they can hold onto – like a rope or a towel – while you pull them to shore." His jaw clenched in frustration and he subconsciously pulled me even closer. "Did you learn nothing from your lessons at the Academy?"

Just as an FYI: yelling at someone is pretty hard to do – not to mention awkward – when you're holding them in your arms. It's even harder to yell back when you're the one being held, but that didn't stop my anger from flaring, and it certainly didn't stop the words that followed the anger.

"I've learned plenty at the Academy. You, more than anyone, should know that," I practically growled. "And one of the very first things I learned – something that's been pounded into me since I could walk – is that They Come First." He opened his mouth, but I continued before he could say anything. "And I know that _they_ refers to the Moroi, but when they aren't around, why can't _they_ just mean _others._ Why can't it mean that I will help and protect others at all times, even if my life is forfeit?"

"Rose -"

"It's who I am. You can't ask me to give up such a big part of myself, comrade."

He sighed. "I would never. I just… need you to be more careful. You scare me. I've not known you half a year and the amount of times I've seen you near death or in the hospital is incredible."

I smiled. "That's why you're here, coach. Teach me how to be an invincible god."

Dimitri smiled back, but his tone was solemn and his eyes looked meaningfully into mine "No one is invincible, Rose. We all are vulnerable in some way."

When I made it back to the beach, I was ambushed by Mason and Eddie. Both of them yanked me into a tight group hug that made it hard to breathe, but this time I welcomed it. I had nearly died. I would've never seen them again.

They finally released me – well, Eddie did – and Mason gave me a once over and asked if I was okay or if I was in any pain. "What happened" was repeated frequently in his fussing till Alto put a stop to it by ordering me to go to the camp's infirmary to get checked out and blah blah blah, and then to go to my room and rest and blah blah blah.

Shane was already at the infirmary when I got there, and from the moment he saw me till the moment I left, he was apologizing and thanking me. I apologized too – I'd left some pretty nasty scrapes on his side – but he brushed my concern off and then proceeded to thank me again. It was a relief when I left.

Unfortunately the treatment continued when I entered my room. Meredith began fretting over me, making sure I was comfortable, offering to let me use her dry shampoo so I wouldn't have to stand under the evil water, she even went as far as to check my breaths per minute. All of it was comforting – I was blessed to have such great friends – but this was just too over the top.

The next day at practice with Dimitri we only ran 7 miles, and that was when I had had enough.

"I want to spar," I told him. We'd just finished the run and Dimitri was getting a drink.

He took the bottle from his lips. "Okay."

"Now, before you say no – wait. What?"

"I said okay. Let's spar. I had it in your workout regime for tomorrow, but it seems like you're on a mission to prove something so we'll do it today."

"Hey, I'm not -" I closed my mouth. I totally was on a mission to prove something. Darn him.

"Same take down, kill shot, and point rules apply," he explained, dragging his foot in the sand to create a sparring circle. "First one to 3 wins."

"You're on, comrade. Don't be too upset when I win."

Needless to say, I lost…horribly, and he, of course, took the opportunity to go all zen on me so I'd learn a lesson. How unexpected of him (she thought sarcastically).

"Did you see where your mistakes were?" he asked, slinging his gym bag onto his shoulder.

"Yep, I should've zigged instead of zagged. I always forget to zig. I'm the worst zigger ever."

He rolled his eyes at my tomfoolery, and we started walking back to the lodges. "Your moves were reckless. Sloppy. You threw too much of your effort into the power behind the punch instead of into the precision and form of it, and I know you know the importance of those things. Not to mention the placement of your body was so open a beach ball could've gotten through."

"Okay, I get it," I huffed. "I was cocky and I wanted to prove that I didn't need to be babied after yesterday."

"I'm not sure how fighting like one of the primary campus novices will prove anything."

 _Fighting like a w_ _hat?!_

I dropped my bag and made a sweep at his knees, but Mr. Ready-for-anything jumped over my leg and came down in a proper fighting stance. I took a step backwards in order to give myself some distance, but I was met with a tree. Oh, this was going to be an interesting setting to fight in.

I turned to face Dimitri again just in time to dodge his foot. Unable to stop the momentum, he hit the tree with a grunt. He had no time to recover before I attacked him with a punch to the gut, which he blocked. I threw another punch, but he side stepped it and grabbed my arm, pulling me close and making it hard to swing at or kick him.

I wasn't completely helpless, though. I latched onto the arm that was holding me and jumped, pulling my legs up to wrap around his neck. I then twisted, flipping him and bringing us both to the ground. I tried keep him on his back in an armbar, but those only tend to work when you are stronger or equally as strong as your opponent. He used his free arm to push my legs off of him and I was forced to let go.

He quickly got to his feet and I did the same, but I hadn't even gotten my footing yet when he came at me with a high kick. I ducked, but stumbled backwards when my foot caught on a root. _Stupid wooded terrain._

He, of course, pushed the advantage and aimed a second kick at my abdomen. I blocked it (barely), but lost my balance even more because of it. Before I could fall over, though, and look like a complete idiot, I caught myself on a nearby tree. In a split second he was there, pinning me to the trunk with his body. I couldn't move.

"No fair, comrade," I panted, still straining against him. "You can't use the tree to help you win."

He smirked. "You used it to keep yourself from falling," - I glared at him - "Anyway, that's why we're out here. To teach you guys how to use different surroundings in a fight. This may surprise you, but there is a slim to none chance you will be fighting Strigoi in a sparring ring."

"Then why don't we ever spar outside at the Academy?"

Dimitri shrugged. "We could start if you'd like. You're just always complaining about the cold when you run so I thought we'd wait for the warmer months."

"I do not complain," I insisted in mock outrage. "I state facts."

"You're impossible," he sighed.

I smiled. "And you're dead."

He looked down and found my hand placed over his heart, where it had been since he'd crushed me into the tree. If my hand had held a stake, he'd have killed himself.

When he raise his head again I could tell he was impressed and proud, and that made my chest swell and my heart pound.

"Well done, Rose," he said, stepping back. "Well done."

Right as Dimitri and I cleared the trees on our way to join everyone for breakfast, the sun's last rays hit me, warming the skin they touched, before disappearing altogether. I groaned in disappointment, but then remembered my promise to not waste this last opportunity to enjoy the sun. It may be gone now, but I still had six days left to – as Dimitri would put it – use my surroundings to my advantage. In other words…

I'd be breaking curfew in the morning.

Training came and went without any trouble, and the only special treatment I received was from Mason who swam close to me anytime we were in the water, watching me like a hawk as if someone was just going to pull me under for the heck of it. I rolled my eyes, but let him continue to play the fearless protector. I'd probably do the same if our roles were reversed.

When curfew hit, I was in my room like a good little novice. I took a shower, hung out with Meredith, set an alarm, and got in bed – all the things I was supposed to do.

Meredith eventually fell asleep, and shortly after I was pulling on a bikini, pushing aside our black out curtains and…darn… of course the guardians had put some fancy alarm system on the windows. I'd have to do this the hard way. I opened my door a crack and checked out the hallway. No one was there so I slipped out and closed the door silently.

I had no idea how the guardians were monitoring us. Not many had come with us on this trip, the Academy obviously being top priority, and so I'd guess that no more than three or four at a time would be used to patrol while the others slept. So the question was: Will they be in the lobby of the lodges or stalking the grounds?

Both apparently.

Upon reaching the lobby, I found only one guardian, Guardian Loss, sitting at the desk, which meant that they had one in the boys' lodge and one or two making the rounds. It shouldn't be too hard to get past one guardian.

I grabbed some pebbles from the fake potted plant that stood in the hallway and threw them as hard as I could at the far wall at the end of the hall, creating a sound similar to hail hitting a windshield. I then ducked into what appeared to be a supply closet and waited for Loss to run by and investigate. As predicted, she did and as soon as she passed I eased out of the closet and entered the lobby.

All I needed to do was get out the front door, but as I was passing the desk something caught my eye. It was a small and complex looking device, but I did recognize the logo that had been on the alarm system and the on and off switch.

 _Wonder what this would do?_

"But I swear I didn't do anything," I voice that sounded a lot like Desiree Richard's squeaked. "I was just going to the bathroom."

"How do you explain the pebbles?" Guardian Loss demanded.

"I -"

"Never mind. I don't care about teenage pranks or dares. I'll let you off with a warning, just this once."

I felt bad that my actions had gotten someone else in trouble, and I would've stepped up and said something if Loss had decided to dole out a punishment, but she hadn't so we were both in the clear. Besides, Desiree owed me. In 8th grade I told her crush at the time, Timmy Colbern, that I'd heard she was a good kisser and an hour later I saw them making out. She'd never returned the favor – not that she needed to tell boys I was a good kisser to get them to want to – so I suppose today was the day.

Once outside, I nearly had to catch my breath. The sun was high in the sky and shining at full force. I closed my eyes and looked up, feeling warmth instantly. This was totally worth breaking the rules for. Not wanting to stand there long, I ran towards the trees, watching my surroundings as I went. I lucked out, though, because just as I hit the wooded area, Guardian Oded rounded the corner. I waited behind a tree until he disappeared from view then set off for the beach. From here I was home free. I doubted they had a guardian searching the woods. Too big of an area and too many hiding places and obstacles. Besides, no one could've gotten past the lobby… well, no one _should've_ gotten past. But these things do happen.

The beach was wonderful. I stayed there for as long as I could, basking in the sun. About two hours before I'd have to meet Dimitri, I got up, put my bikini back on (of course I took it off, who wants tan lines?), and walked back to my room. Avoiding the outside patrol was easy since there were only two, and getting to my room was even easier because I now had a way to deactivate the alarm system.

Pulling open my window, I slipped back inside and went to sleep.

I continued to do this through the rest of the week. I'd train with Dimitri, train with my class, go to bed, sneak out, tan on the beach, sneak back to my room, and sleep for one or two hours. Then I'd get up and do it all again. It was a good system. Sure I was tired, but I kept up… mostly.

All too soon our time here was drawing to a close. This was the last time I'd be sneaking out before we packed up and flew home tonight.

I made it to the beach without trouble – as per usual – took of my bikini, laid in my usual spot, and closed my eyes. I was going to miss this.

Only an hour into my sun-soaking, I heard something that made my eyes shoot open. Footsteps. Someone was coming. I quickly got up, grabbed my suit, and ran to a close sand dune, jumping behind it right as none other than Stan Alto stepped into view. And he was definitely searching for something.

Or someone.

What had I done that tipped him off? I'd been careful. I'd avoided the patrols. I'd even put back the alarm deactivation device (which totally could've come in handy in the future).

No matter. I'd just have to sneak past him, get to my room, and deny everything if questioned. I hastily slipped on my bikini bottoms and then reached for my top only to find that it wasn't there. I peeked over the dune and saw it laying in the sand where I had been previously.

 _No! No no no no no no! Why did the universe hate me?!_

Okay. Breathe. I needed to calm down. What were my options? I could try digging a tunnel to it, but that would take too long. I could try the same distraction technique I used on Guardian Loss, but I didn't have anything to throw. I could hide here and hope he never comes this way, but guardians were thorough. Every part of this beach would be searched. I'd have to make a break for it and pray to whoever was up there watching that no one would catch me. After making sure Alto's back was to me, I got up and sprinted towards the woods, using one arm to cover and, well, support myself.

Once among the trees, I relaxed a bit. I could do this. Stan was on the beach. I just needed to get past the regular patrols – something I'd been doing all week – one last time.

Or, that _would've_ been all I needed to do if Alto hadn't brought reinforcements.

I had been close to the edge of the woods when I was forced to back-track at the sound of two more sets of footsteps. _Three guardians_ _for one novice?_ _!_ Maybe I should've been flattered. No, no time for that. Time to run.

I'd have to circle around and wait for them to finish searching that area. Every other route either involved cameras or extensive open space, and neither of those were options at this point. Maybe I could hide out in a tree – oof!

Someone had stepped out from behind a tree and into my path. I'd nearly been at full speed so when we hit, we hit hard, and both of us tumbled to the ground. When the world stopped moving, I took stock of the situation: My back was on the leafy floor. I could tell because twigs were poking me. And Dimitri was on top of me. I could tell because I knew the weight of his body on mine, I knew the feel of his soft hair as it brushed my cheeks, and I knew those eyes – albeit they were usually weren't as huge with shock. I guess that answered the question as to whether or not he noticed my state of undress.

"Rose..."

His pupils were dilated and he sounded a bit breathless. That made two of us. But with me being me, I tried to brush it all off.

"Oh. Hey, comrade! Come here often?"

"Rose," - he cleared his throat - "Rose. Where are your… your clothes."

I squirmed (which was a bad idea because he could essentially feels every move I made) and he swallowed thickly. "Erm. Well, it's kind of a funny story," I laughed shakily. "But I can sense that now is not the time for it, so the short version is that my top is on the beach where Stan is at the moment searching for a novice that has been sneaking out after curfew everyday to tan."

He seemed… relieved? "So, to confirm, you're… topless because you were tanning?"

My brows furrowed. "Of course. Why else would...oh." I could feel my face heat at the implication. Though I suppose he wasn't too far off. I _was_ in the woods, half naked, with a man. In my defense, only one of those three things was my fault.

Dimitri was still a distracting pressure on top of me, and my mind flipped through images and memories that were never far from the surface. Memories of when our bodies had been fit together similarly and my heart had been pounding with his – much like it was now.

It was my turn to be breathless. "Dimitri..."

I could see his desire as he licked his lips and his gaze flickered to my chest for the briefest of moments. His eyes snapped to mine again before he squeezed his shut.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Don't be," I told him. Then I kissed his cheek and he took that as a cue to get up before one of us did something stupid. Well… even more stupid. I stood as well and put my back to him.

"Here," I tuned to find a topless Dimitri with one hand over his eyes and the other holding his shirt out to me.

 _Dang._

"I'm pretty sure losing more clothes isn't going to help our predicament, comrade," I commented, shamelessly checking him out (which he couldn't see)

He sighed. "Put the shirt on Rose."

I stuck my tongue out at him (which he also couldn't see) and did as commanded.

"I'm dressed."

He opened his eyes, looked at me, and said something in Russian. I'd have to google what it meant later.

"So what's with the search party," I asked.

"Guardian Alto is convinced that someone has been sneaking out since all of the window alarms are disabled."

"Then device was an all or nothing kind of thing, so... Stan doesn't know it's been me."

"He has an inkling."

"But no proof."

He raised an eyebrow. "And what's to say I won't turn you in?"

"You won't turn me in because you know why I've been coming out here. It's the same reason you get up before our sessions everyday and run outside rather than inside."

He looked at me hard for a moment before caving in. "I'll lead them away," - I smiled - "though, I have no idea what I'm going to say to explain how I lost my shirt."

"I don't think they'll care. I know I wouldn't."

"These are my colleagues, Rose."

"Which means they'll believe you if you tell them that you fought a bear and it ate your shirt right before you round-house kicked it into the next century." Cue the eyebrow raise. "Fine, tell them that you were going to check the water for the wayward novice, but your shirt blew away."

"Your horrible at making up excuses."

"Good thing I'm not in your shoes then."

He smirked. "Next time I'd prefer you take the shoes."

"Next time?"

But he was already walking away. "Wait 5 minutes and then follow. I'll have drawn them far enough away by then so they won't hear or see you."

"Thank you, Dimitri."

He paused but didn't turn around. "Of course, Roza."

On the flight home a bunch of novices were gossiping and whispering about a guardian that had supposedly fought a bear and left the fight unscathed, but the bear had taken his shirt. No, the guardian used his shirt to strangle the bear. No, the guardian gave the bear his shirt to appease it. No, the guardian lead the bear in the wrong direction by letting it follow the scent on his shirt.

There were many versions to the story, but only I knew that said shirt was neatly packed away with my other belongings, and, bear or no bear, the guardian wouldn't be getting his shirt back.

* * *

 **AN: Thank you so much for taking the time to read this crazy long chapter! I would've split it into two, but had no idea where to do so. You guys are wonderful for sticking it out!**

 **Also, I am so sorry. I broke my promise that I would make the next Romitri chapter fluffy. This was obviously not a fluffy chapter. It was supposed to be, but then I had to go and throw a near death experience in there. At least we got to see Dimitri on a jet ski because of it:)**

 **A lot happened in this chapter so p** **lease let me know what you thought in a comment or review!**

 **You all are awesome! Have a serendipitous day! And for those of you in America: Happy Thanksgiving!**


	6. Fun Size

**AN: Hello beautifuls!**

 **FINALLY! I am expanding! This does NOT take place between Vampire Academy and Frostbite, but rather sometime during Shadow Kiss. I have it placed after the whole thing about her seeing ghosts comes out because then she doesn't have to be with Christian 24/7. (And trust me, Christian wouldn't want to be here for this). I'll just leave it at that...;)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or its characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

 **Fun Size: Rose POV**

I am a Hathaway.

My surname is equally feared and respected by dhampir, Moroi, and even Strigoi.

I have been trained to be a guardian in an elite Academy by top-notch instructors since the age of four.

I have escaped death only to face it again and again without showing weakness.

I am skilled. I am capable. I am deadly. I am fearless.

I am… short.

I mean, I'm not _really_ short or anything (at least not by normal standards), but growing up among a race of people known for being tall and lanky can kind of give you a warped view on what "tall" and "short" are.

Sure I was teased for being shorter than average in grade school, but that stopped pretty quickly. After all, it's fairly hard to open your mouth – much less talk – when you're unconscious. Just kidding! However, bruises the size of Alaska on your face can making talking very uncomfortable.

Now? Well, now I just let my presence do the talking. If you act with confidence and have charisma, you can seem bigger than you really are. This, I have found, comes in handy when living in a world of 6-foot-somethings with egos the size of their bank accounts. Of course, even the ones without egos and wealth are taller than me, too. But again, I have learned not to mind it.

Nope, 99% of the time I am perfectly content being 5'7''. The other 1%, however, is for times like this.

While I am considered short around here, it's not something I'm known for because I have so many other defining characteristics. One of them being impatience. I just don't like waiting and when I am forced to, I can get frustrated pretty easily. So when I'm _trying_ to start a workout session and all of the equipment that I need is _on the top shelf_ and my 5'7'' self can't reach said shelf, I can become annoyed in two seconds flat.

I already know that I'm alone, but that doesn't stop me from scanning the gym for someone who could possibly reach the darn box I need. Nope. No one in sight. Whatever. I don't need help. I'm Rose Hathaway after all. If I can kill two Strigoi with an old, dull sword, then I can get a stupid box from a stupid shelf.

First, I check the storage room for possibly a ladder – a step ladder even. No such luck.

"What kind of establishment has shelves that challenge the tower of Babel and no ladder?" I grumble.

Plan B. The storage room may not have a ladder, but it does have rope for when we do rope climbing exercises. I take it back to the shelves, but quickly decide that scaling up to my box would be a bad idea. So instead I fashion the rope into a lasso… of sorts.

 _Oh no,_ I think with an eye roll. _I've turned into a character from one of Dimitri's Western novels._ Whatever. It's not like he's here to laugh at me. I just need to get this box and get on with my workout.

I've never had the desire (or need) to sling a rope around something to get what I want, and it's not like The Art of Lassoing Your Foes to Death is a class around here, so I lose no pride in saying that I have no idea what I'm doing. The only basis I have to go off of is a single western movie. In it, lassoing was pretty much all they did (which is why it's the only western I've ever seen).

Stepping back from the shelves, I begin to spin my lasso (which is surprisingly harder than it looks) and take aim. Though, taking aim with a rope is a lot different than taking aim with, say, a crossbow or a gun (both of which I have been trained to use, by the way). So when I release the rope (something I have _not_ been trained to use) it doesn't exactly go where I want it to. Instead the rope catches on a hook holding a pair of nun-chucks which – guess what – are also out of my reach. Tugging on the rope only makes it grow tighter around the hook, so… I have officially lost plan B.

Mats! The sparring mats are folded nicely and resting along the opposite wall. Why didn't I think of it before? If I can't find a ladder, I'll just have to make one.

I drag the mats one by one over to the shelf and start to stack them. They're fairly thick, so I should get a decent boost from them.

Nope. Not even close.

So I grab some of the boxes from the lower shelves and place those on top of the mats.

Again, I'm too short.

So I put a chair on top of the boxes.

Still can't reach.

So I heap more boxes on the chair. I'm quickly running out of useful stacking material. Soon I'll have to use dumbbells.

I climb to the top of my tower, but stay in a crouched position. One wrong shift of my weight will send this entire thing tumbling to the ground. Dimitri has forced extensive training on my balance (a certain high ropes course comes to mind) so I'm not too worried as I slowly straighten my legs till I'm in a standing position. I am sooo close! So close, in fact, that it's not even worth climbing down and getting another box. I just need to reach a bit more. I push myself up onto my tip toes and stretch my arm as far as it can go.

"Just a little more," I murmur.

My fingers barely graze the bottom of the box when I hear the gym's door open. I jump slightly at the sound and whip my head around to see who is catching me in this precarious position. Mistake.

Before you can say, "Hey, comrade" my tower loses whatever tiny amount stability it has and crashes to the ground, bringing me with it. I only have time to yell out a single curse before I hit the floor and boxes rain down on me (one for every letter of the word I used).

Dimitri quickly rushes over to me and removes all of the boxes. "Rose! Are you okay?" he asks, his gorgeous face tainted with concern.

Groaning, I lift myself into a sitting position and smirk. "Yeah, I'm fine. But I'm gonna have a wicked bruise on my hip tomorrow," I say, rubbing the mentioned spot.

He smiles and instantly his concern turns to amusement. "So now that I know that you don't need me to cart you to the clinic, would you mind telling me why you were standing on such a poorly constructed platform?"

"What are you calling 'poorly constructed'?" I demand. "I'll have you know that my ladder was serving its purpose beautifully until you walked in and distracted me."

"Ah. A ladder. So you were trying to get something that's out of your reach."

I cross my arms. "And if I was?"

He chuckles. "Then I'd ask why you didn't come find me. I can probably reach whatever equipment you're trying to use."

"Cocky much?" I counter, but I'm teasing him, of course. Dimitri has an ego smaller than Gandhi's.

That earns me an eye roll as he pulls me to my feet. "So what did you need?"

I point to my desired box, his eyes follow my finger to it, he presses his lips together, and then he says something that I totally do not expect. "I'm not sure I can reach that."

Understandably, my mouth pops open. "What?! Dimitri Belikov, the skyscraper himself, can't reach something?"

"I'm afraid so," he says, laughing at the new nickname.

I throw my hands up in frustration. "Well then how am I supposed to get the equipment I need? You can't reach it. The Academy apparently doesn't own a ladder. Lassos are a lost cause. I'm tempted to resort to Jedi mind tricks."

He gives me a funny look. "You're into Star Wars?"

I scoff. "Heck no! Weird housemate in Portland."

"I see. And, by the way, to move something you would use the force. Not Jedi mind tricks."

"Whatever," I huff. "It doesn't matter anyway. I have neither of those."

"No," he agrees. "But you have me."

My brow furrows. "Comrade, I know you're upset that we have finally discovered a limit to your power," - I place a mock-sympathetic hand on his arm - "but we already established that even you are too short to get that box."

He takes the hand on his arm into his own and pulls me to him. "Yes, but _we_ aren't too short to get it."

I catch his meaning a second before his hands find my waist and I am lifted off of the floor. I squeak in a brief moment of panic, but quickly remember that Dimitri is the one holding me. I have nothing to worry about.

"Can you reach it?" he asks, raising me above his head.

"No. It's still too far."

He sets me on his shoulders for a moment, and then he moves his hands to the bottoms of my feet.

"Get ready to balance, Rose."

My eyes widen. "I'm not a freaking acrobat, Dimitri! I can't balance on a person!"

"You _can._ But if you don't want to, I can put you down and we'll move on. You'll have to find some other equipment to work with."

I grit my teeth. "Fine. I was really hoping I could get a matching bruise on my other hip anyway, so this works out great."

"Less sarcasm, more focus."

Ugh. We aren't even training right now and he's talking like a mentor. But I do what he says and ready myself.

"Okay," I tell him, and then I'm in the air again. A little wobbly at first, but I eventually gain my balance enough to find that the box I want is right in front of me.

"Got it," I say, taking it from the shelf. "Now, how am I supposed to get down?"

"Is there anything breakable in the box?"

"No."

"Then drop it." I do as he says. "Okay. Do you trust me, Roza?"

"Of course." My answer is immediate. Dimitri has not yet been in my life a full year, yet I trust him more than I've ever trusted anyone. I trust him with my life. My inner thoughts. My dark secrets.

My heart.

In an abrupt move, he twists me around and lets go, allowing me to fall… into him. His arms come around me and I am pressed flush against his body. My face is so close to his that our hair tangles together, we share the same breath, and my eyes can't focus on the whole of him. I have to choose.

At first I choose his eyes. The deep brown speaks louder than words. I wonder if you can scream a caress because if I have to describe what his eyes are doing to me, that would be it. Passion blares at me with fervor, but it doesn't knock me back like it would have months ago. It holds me, wraps around me, draws me into its embrace.

I then look at his lips. I know my breathing grows thicker as my heart tries to out pace it. I bite my bottom lip and that apparently breaks whatever is holding Dimitri back. A moment later I am pressed between Dimitri and a wall, and his lips are on mine, their movements speaking the passion in his eyes.

My legs wrap around his waist, and while one hand grips his shirt, the other can't help but tangle into his hair. His hands can't seem to decide. I feel them in my hair, on my waist, behind my thigh. It has been too long.

He bites my lip and a gasp of pleasure escapes me which makes him smile. I smile too. _Two can play at this game, comrade._ I remove my lips from his and immediately place them on his cheek, then is jaw, then his neck, till finally I reach the sensitive skin behind his ear. He gives a satisfying shudder and sighs my name, " _Roza."_

He kisses me again as if nothing else in his life is as important as this moment, and then he lowers me to the ground, but he doesn't release me. Instead he pulls me to his chest and holds me. And I can honestly say that I've never felt so loved. Sure I've made out with guys before (not like _that_ mind you), but once they find out I'm not going further, they usually move on as fast as possible. No one has ever… withdrawn from the sexual touch in favor of something as simple and pure as a hug. As I press my cheek to his chest, I decide that I like it. And I love him for it.

Eventually he pulls away and smiles down at me. I smile up at him. "What are you thinking?" I ask.

He tucks a mused hair behind my ear. "I'm thinking that I have been wanting to do that since the first time I pressed you into a wall." I laugh. "And you? What are you thinking?"

I step away and walk over to the box that started this whole thing. "I'm thinking that it's not so bad to be short if it means I get to be hoisted up, crushed into the wall, and kissed like that."

He chuckles and joins me by the box. "So what's in here that's so important anyway?"

"Well, I haven't worked on my martial arts in a while." I reach down, open the box, and pull out one of its contents.

"Short sticks," he says.

"What?"

"In Asia, where they first originated as a weapon, they are called _tahn bong,_ but in English that translates to 'short staff' or, more commonly, 'short stick'."

"I always just called them sticks."

He shrugged. "It doesn't really matter since your go-to and most important weapon is your stake, but the technical term for that is a short stick."

All I could do for a straight five minutes after that was laugh, and for the rest of the day, when I thought about it, I laughed then too because the irony certainly wasn't lost on me.

* * *

 **AN: Yay! Finally a Romitri chapter that really is pure fluff! I had so much fun writing this and I hope you liked it:)**

 **PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave a comment or review. This is my first time, I believe, that I've written them actually kissing. There have been innocent forehead and cheek kisses in the past, but no face sucking and I need some feedback. Good? Bad? Meh? Of course, as always, comments and critique on anything and everything (not just the face macking) are appreciated.**

 **Also, I have NO IDEA why I referenced Star Wars. I don't see Dimitri as a Star Wars nerd or anything, but all of my family members are mild Star Wars nerds so I guess I thought I'd slip some in there. IDK I blame it on the new movie.**

 **Thank you SO SO much for taking the time read! You all are wonderful and I love yah! Have a superb day!**


	7. Try Not To Kill Each Other

**AN: Hello everyone!**

 **Wow. Five months without updating. I'm pretty sure that's the longest I've gone since I started posting on this website, and I apologize profusely. This past semester was crazy stressful and my time was severely limited (hence the lack of updates), but I'm hoping to write more this summer;)**

 **Anyway, this Deleted Scene (once again) is set between Vampire Academy and Frostbite. I don't know how many of you have read the 10th Anniversary Edition short stories (hopefully all of you cuz they are fantastic!), but I also wanted to mention that this scene takes place after _Hello, My Name Is Rose Hathaway._ You'll see a brief reference to that short story in here as well. **

**P.S. Before we get started, I just really wanted to thank everyone for their kind words so far. It truly makes my day when I see that someone liked something I wrote, and I couldn't be more thankful and appreciative to the people who take the time to comment and give me that feeling. You are all rock stars and I love yah!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Academy or it's characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead.**

 **Try Not To Kill Each Other**

* * *

 **Rose POV**

One

Number of alarm clocks I broke today.

Two

Number of times I wanted to strangle Christian at breakfast.

Three

Number of pancakes I ate.

Four

Number of times Lissa reminded me not to be late to 1st period… again.

Four

Number of times I'd been late so far this week.

Five

Number of times I was _going_ to be late if I didn't make it to the gym in the next 10 seconds.

I burst through the gym's doors with about three times the force needed to open them, making them hit the inner walls with a loud bang. All eyes turned to me and I felt a weird sense of deja vu. However, unlike last time, I was not being escorted by Dimitri and Alberta, and whatever I was interrupting, it certainly didn't look like _advanced guardian combat techniques._

All of my classmates stood off to the sides of the room, and – after determining that I wasn't an evil, bloodthirsty creature of the night – their gazes returned to the circle of metal folding chairs set up in the middle of the room. Weird. A quick glance around told me that no instructors had arrived yet. Weirder.

A hand attached to a familiar red-head started waving me down, so I wove my way through the mass of confused novices to get to my friends.

"Hey, Rose," Mason said once I reached them. "What's going on here? Did Belikov mention anything about a special class today?"

"Unfortunately, my Russian jailer is more of a pain-in-the-neck than a source of information, and, double unfortunately, I was about to ask you the same thing."

"I know what we're doing."

Mason and I spun on Eddie, shocked. Eddie was an excellent fighter and had brains to match, but of the three of us, he was the least likely to have top secret information.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense, Castile," I prompted with a wave of my hand.

He smiled. "Come on, guys. We are obviously about get some WWE action. I mean look at the chairs." He gestured toward them. "Classic WWE."

"There's no way that _that's_ what we're doing," laughed Mason. "That's _fake_ fighting."

Eddie looked offended. "Fake or not, the moves they use can do some serious damage."

"Why would we learn to fight like idiot mini hulks, smashing chairs around and body slamming, when we know how to _properly_ fight someone?"

"It's called street fighting, and it could be useful in casual fights."

"When are we going to _casually_ fight a Strigoi?!..."

I tuned out their argument about weather or not we'd be squeezing into speedos and slathering ourselves in baby oil, and instead looked around for Emil or Dimitri. Heck, I'd take Stan at this point as long as he told us what was going on.

As if my thoughts summoned them, all three instructors appeared. Now I was even more confused. Emil usually taught this class. Sometimes Stan or Dimitri would stop in to help, watch, or even sub on occasion, but never both. I didn't know what this was, but I did know that I didn't like not knowing.

I caught Dimitri's gaze and gave him a questioning look… which he ignored. My questioning look was now a glare, and that was also ignored. Darn him.

With a loud clap of his hands, Emil got everyone's attention. "Alright students, today class is going to be conducted a little differently."

I tried to read all three of their faces, hoping one of them would betray something, but their guardian masks were firmly in place. None of their eyes even shifted to the circle of chairs – unlike every novice who looked at the chairs expectantly like maybe _they_ would start explaining.

"As you know," Emil continued. "Our purpose here is to train you to one day become capable guardians." We had all heard this line, or something similar, literally _hundreds_ of times over the years. Lines like this were usually followed by a dramatic speech of some kind, outlining duty, honor, and blah blah blah. So I wasn't surprised to see eye rolls and zoned out stares. "And while today's class will test your combat techniques, we are adding – or perhaps I should say amplifying – an element: competition."

Now everyone's interest was peaked.

Emil was right to revise his wording. Competition was a constant for us novices at St. Vlads; from the daily hand to hand combat to the scores on the trails we would all be taking at the end of the year. However, despite the unavoidable competitiveness, competition was not something the Academy focused on. The guardians were supposed to be a united front against a common enemy, so rivalry was generally not encouraged.

Of course, that doesn't mean we didn't milk every exercise or training session for all the competition it had. Even now Mason was rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"So today," Emil said, raising his voice over the excited chatter. "We will be engaging in an activity that requires you to be vigilant, exceptionally fast, combatantly skilled, and ruthless. Many a novice have been sent to the clinic because of this exercise, so be on your guard."

Ruthless? Clinic? Were we actually about to start hitting each other with chairs WWE style?

Emil clapped his hands to quiet the now nervous voices. "Today, students, you will be playing musical chairs."

A silent moment of disbelief was quickly followed by laughter – as if Guardian Naphtali had just told a joke – and I probably would've been laughing too if I hadn't been looking at Dimitri's face. He had on his _we-are-serious-you-are-definit_ _e_ _ly-about-to-play-a-children's-game_ face. And yes, he totally has a face that says that.

Everyone else must've noticed the face too because the laughter stopped and someone called out, "It doesn't take any kind of skill to win a kid's game. Save that one for the primary campus, and give us something with real competition"

Emil just smiled. "Everyone please stand in front of a chair – except one, of course – and wait for the music to begin."

No one moved. I could feel the uneasiness. No one wanted to be the first to claim a chair, doing so would practically be admitting you _wanted_ to play.

Dimitri narrowed his eyes at me. _So_ now _you want to acknowledge me?_ I said to him with my eyes.

 _Just go stand in front of a chair. Others will follow you,_ his said back.

 _And if I don't?_

 _Rose._

I threw my hands up. _Fine! Fine. But you owe me._

Our silent conversation finished, I slipped through the crowd of novices and planted myself in front of one of the folding chairs. Mason and Eddie were quick to do likewise, and eventually the rest followed, creating a ring around the chairs.

"Thank you," Emil said, clasping his hands behind his back and moving to stand in front of us. "Now, I'm assuming you all know the rules to this game, but if not, allow me to refresh your memory. When the music plays, you move. When the music stops, you sit down. If you were not able to obtain a chair, then you're out. A chair is then removed and a new round starts. To claim a chair, you must sit on it fully. If someone is fully sitting on a chair, it cannot be stolen. Those are the only rules. Everything else goes."

"Is there a certain fighting style you'd like us to utilize?" Eddie asked, probably still holding out for his WWE fantasy.

"You may fight in any way you see fit," Emil answered, walking towards Dimitri's CD player.

That, more than anything, made me pause. Three late instructors, weird. Make us play musical chairs, very weird. But allowing us to fight however we want? That was alternate reality kind of weird. Always. _Always_ we've been given parameters. This new-found freedom was either going to be good, ending in skill growth and new respect for unique fighting styles, or it was going be very bad, ending in uncontrollable, intoxicating combat, chaos, and bloodshed. Knowing my class, my bet was on the latter.

As if reading my thoughts, Emil added, "Oh, and try not to kill each other." Then he pressed play.

I recognized the song (unfortunately) that began pouring through the speakers as one from Dimitri's collection: Dancing With Tears In My Eyes by Ultravox. _Who names a band "Ultravox" anyway?_ I rolled my eyes as the choppy beat, ever-present synth, and whiny, male voice filled the gym. Dimitri smirked in a very un-Dimitri way, as if he'd been waiting all his life for the moment he could torture us all with his regrettable taste in music. His smirk grew when he saw my reaction. Yep, this was intentional torture. _How low you have stooped, Comrade._

At first, no one moved. Many awkward and uncomfortable glaces were exchanged, and many more followed when we all finally started shuffling ourselves around the ring of chairs. I don't know what the guardians were thinking because this didn't feel like a competition. I mean, we were _seniors,_ deadly, dhampir seniors,playing a game that probably had an appropriate age limit of 7 years old. It felt plain weird.

And the music sure as heck didn't help.

Emil pressed a button on the player and the music stopped. A few students sat down immediately, but mostly people jokingly took their time. Dean Barnes was the novice left without a chair, and it was obvious that he wasn't upset at all. In fact, he looked pleased with himself, like he'd just gotten out of a punishment that the rest of us now had to suffer through. Maybe he did.

The instructors' expressions betrayed nothing as Stan took away one of the chairs and Emil turned the music back on. Five more rounds came and went, going something like this: Music played. Music stopped. Most people calmly sat down, while a few students (mainly the ones lacking in brain cells) made it their own little game to be the one that _didn't_ get a chair.

I was annoyed by their immaturity, but I couldn't say I wasn't a little attracted to the idea of "accidentally" getting out, too. So far, no fighting had occurred and I found myself bored out of my mind. I was tempted to tackle Mason or drop kick Eddie just to get some kind of action going. If not for the purpose of securing a chair, then at least to entertain myself.

After the sixth round was over, and Miles Deem joined the ranks of idiots along the wall, Emil stepped forward. The lack of Morten Harket's voice gave him everyone's attention. "I have done this exercise for years and students never change. High school students are too proud to believe they can learn something from a kid's game, as you called it, so every year I find that I have to offer motivation. Whoever wins the game of musical chairs is exempt from the mandatory training session this Saturday."

"Wait. What training session?" Dean asked.

"The one I just came up with," Emil answered without looking at him.

"What!? You can't just -"

"Now," Emil continued, ignoring the group of outraged novices on the sidelines. "I hope you start taking this more seriously because I assure you that Saturday will _not_ be a picnic." With that, the music began to play.

The change was very noticeable. It was amazing how a few sentences could turn boredom into determination. The shuffle was now a power walk, and blank stares were now death stares. Of course, Emil's new incentive was no small thing. Training session? Sure. Story of our lives. On a _Saturday_? He might as well have been asking us to give up a limb.

This time, when the music stopped, everyone immediately glued themselves to a chair, and there was even a small fight on the opposite side of the circle. Poor Anna, the smallest person in the class (Yes, even smaller than me), was practically thrown across the room by Darius. She hadn't even gotten a chance to defend herself or counter attack before Darius took the seat.

I wanted to protest about the illegality of the move Darius had just done, but shut my mouth when I saw the reaction of the instructors, or should I say, lack of reaction. Stan helped Anna up, asking if she was alright, but no one questioned Darius' method. _You may fight in any way you see fit._

Anna said she was fine and the music resumed.

The following rounds became a bloodbath (sort of). Not only were we allowed to fight in any style we'd learned here at St. Vlad's, but it was now confirmed that we could also fight dirty and get away with it. Personally, I wasn't a fan.

I watched as Ryan got Meredith out by grabbing her hair.

James got Liam out with a low blow to the family heirlooms.

Dylan got Cameron out with an elbow to the jaw.

And Eddie, kind, do-good Eddie, hit Bryce with a chair, though, I don't think he hit him that hard, and it was probably more to live his dream than anything else.

So far, I hadn't participated in any of the action, and – after watching these animals uncaged – I was kind of grateful for it. I didn't like dirty fighting (unless it was with a Strigoi), and only the Lord knows what I'd do to the sinner that even thought about pulling me by my hair.

When the music stopped once more, I looked back to find the chair behind me occupied.

"Sorry, Rose," Mason said guiltily.

My eyes scanned the seats until they landed on the only open chair on the other side of the circle. Unfortunately, Ryan, the other student without a chair, also noticed it. We briefly acknowledged each other, noting one another's distance from our goal. Neither of us were near the chair, and I was faster, but he was closer. Without a second glance he made a break for it. I cursed.

Using Mason and Eddie's shoulders to support myself (much to their surprise), I jumped into the center of the circle, deciding to take a more direct path. Ryan was nearly there. I ran.

Right when he reached the chair and began to sit down, I launched myself, not _at_ him, but _beside_ him, grabbing his head as I flew past. The momentum brought us both to the floor, him to his stomach, and me to my back right beside him.

I recovered first and scrambled to get up. I'd gotten to my hands and knees when I was dragged backwards by a hand on my ankle. I lashed out with my free leg, successfully kicking him in the stomach, but it must not have been very hard because he didn't release me. In fact, his grip tightened and I was pulled back farther.

He finally let go and tried to stand over me, but I flipped over, put my feet to his chest, and shoved. He flew backwards and I finally achieved a standing position. With him on his back and me standing next to the chair, I could have easily claimed my victory, but I didn't.

"Rose," Mason yelled. "sit down! What are you waiting for?"

I smiled. "I real fight."

That earned me a few oooooo's from my classmates, but I wasn't paying them any attention. I was focused on Ryan, who was also standing now, looking quite unsure I might add.

"I don't think you understand how musical chairs works," he said.

"I understand perfectly," I replied, pretending to examine my nails. "But when I beat you and sit my butt on that chair, I want satisfaction in doing it."

Immediately, I threw my fist toward him and he blocked me by bringing up an arm. Grabbing his defensive arm, I spun around, thrust my backside into his gut, and flipped him over my shoulder. He was quick to recover – seeing as my shoulder isn't that big of a height to be thrown from – and was equally as quick to sweep his leg at the back of my calf.

So, once again, we were both on the floor. Yay.

We weren't there for long, both of us choosing to stand rather than try and fight horizontally again. This time, he attacked first, landing a hard kick to my side. I grimaced, knowing that that would be a big, purple bruise tomorrow. Not wanting to be kicked like that again, I took a step toward Ryan, using his height against him – how Dimitri taught me. He tried to step back, but I continued to advance. Striking out with my fists and feet in practiced movements.

He fought me off decently, but it's hard to defend yourself while simultaneously walking backwards in a room full of equipment. In the end, it was my kick to his sternum that sent him stumbling, causing him to trip over a dumbbell and land on a mat.

I winked at him and walked back to the chairs, claiming my seat. A few people cheered, more in appreciation of a real fight than my victory, but there was only one person's reaction I cared about, and he was smiling.

More rounds came and went, and the ring of chairs got smaller. Even Eddie eventually got out, giving his chair to Rachel instead of fighting for it. I rolled my eyes. He was too chivalrous for his own good.

I was involved in a few more brawls, none quite as extensive as the fight with Ryan. Mainly just take-downs. A couple basic tackles. I had the satisfaction of putting Darius in an arm bar. I also dropped a kid using a pressure point on his neck. Dimitri raised his eyebrow at that one, knowing he didn't teach me that technique. Thanks google.

Numbers continued to drop and, unsurprisingly, the final two standing were Mason and I. He smirked at me as the music began to play one last time. (One last time for the rest of these lucky students, that is. I was still forced to listen to Dimitri's music every morning and afternoon.)

"Just you and me, Hathaway."

"It appears that way, Ashford," I said. "So, am I gonna get to fight you for the chair, or will you just sit in it as fast as dhampirly possible?"

He shrugged. "The way I see it, my chances of beating you in a fight are slim. I'd be better off if I just tried to beat you to the chair."

I frowned. "You've beat me in fights plenty of times."

"Less so everyday."

I playfully flipped my ponytail. "You flatter me. But seriously, you're underestimating yourself."

His smile was a conniving one if I ever saw one. "Fine. If you're so worried about me beating you, how about a deal?" I narrowed my eyes, but he continued. "I'll give you the chair if you agree to watch that movie we talked about at the St. Varvara's Day carnival...with me."

I almost stumbled, but thankfully my feet weren't in as much shock as my brain. Mason liked me. I knew that. And I remembered the very suggestion he was talking about, but what I don't remember is a time when he'd ever asked me out so directly. And in front of so many people.

In front of Dimitri.

We continued to circle the single chair, and his expectant eyes were boring into me. It was almost an intimate moment, made more so when the current song ended and Careless Whisper started to play. Well, this was awkward. I looked away, cursing Dimitri over and over in my head, not just for that ridiculous song, but also for pretty much killing any desire for romantic attentions that weren't his.

I couldn't just blatantly reject him in front of the class, so I tried brushing it off with a joke. "You know, Mase, I totally would, but I think you're gonna be busy this Saturday."

He actually did stumble, and at that moment the music stopped. I dropped myself into the chair before he could right himself, and crossed my legs with a flourish. The class applauded and I think I heard Eddie whooping, though, I'm fairly certain he was cheering for Mason and the ballsy move he just pulled.

"Well done, Rose," Emil said, ignoring the teen drama in front of him. "You are excused from tomorrow's training session. The rest of you, however, I expect to see here at the time this class usually begins." A chorus of groans and other sounds of protest rose up from all of my classmates. He clapped to silence them. "You are dismissed."

As I turned to leave I felt a hand on my arm. It was Mason. "I let you have the chair. Does this mean you'll see the movie with me?"

I snorted. "One, you didn't _let_ me have anything. I won all on my own, thank you very much. Two, I didn't actually agree to your deal."

I said it smiling, teasingly, but his face visibly fell. "So, that's a no then." It wasn't a question.

Ugh! Why are boys so… ugh! I looked past Mason's shoulder and found Dimitri. He was looking at me. I wondered what he was thinking. Was he upset that Mason was being more upfront with his interest in me? Was he glad?

Did he even care?

As per usual, his face was unreadable. The only noticeable reaction I could see was a tick in his jaw. He was probably just worried that a relationship would interfere with my training and dedication as Lissa's future guardian.

That thought hardened me. This was why Dimitri and I couldn't be together.

I returned my eyes to Mason, and I told myself that there was no reason not to like him. He was kind, generous, loyal, supportive, funny, and, attractive – dare I say very attractive. We'd been friends forever and had always gotten along. Why couldn't we work as a couple?

I glanced briefly at Dimitri again.

"You didn't let me finish," I told Mason. "Three, if you ever want to check out a movie with me, just ask. I mean, we used to watch movies together all the time, right?"

A brilliant smile erupted onto his face before he dialed it down. "Right. So Saturday?"

"Sounds good." I began to walk past him. "Right after _your_ mandatory training session."

The gym cleared out quickly after that – everyone trying to make it to second period on time. I, of course, cared a little less than they did.

"Did you notice my victory?" I asked Dimitri, the only person left in the room.

"Did you notice the time?" he retorted.

I shrugged. "I could say the same to you. All three of you instructors were late to class today. You missed my rare on-timedness."

"We were 'late' on purpose, and that is not a word."

"Oh, so _you_ can be 'late on purpose', but when _I_ am it's considered disrespectful?"

He rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Rose," he said in a sigh.

"Only kidding, Comrade."

Silence followed. Why was I still here? I know he saw what just happened with Mason. Did I just want to make sure Dimitri knew it wasn't like _that_? I shouldn't care, but… I did. I didn't even know what I expected him to do with that knowledge. I just wanted him to have it.

The silence continued for another moment, broken when he said, "You should get to class Rose. I'll inform Guardian Alto that I needed a moment of your time so he doesn't count you late."

I chuckled. "I feel like it doesn't matter at this point." He gave me a pointed look. "You're right. Sorry. I'll get going now, and, um, thanks."

He nodded, turned, and began walking away.

I did the same, but only a few paces from the exit I called back, "It's not a date." Then I pushed through the doors. I didn't look back to see his reaction, or to see if he was even still in the room.

* * *

 **AN: The idea for this chapter actually came to me at my aunt's birthday party. She had set up a game of musical chairs, and I was unwillingly dragged into it. It's not that I don't like the game, it's that I know my family (love them all to death) and so I know that they are savages when it comes to games or competition (myself included). As expected, there was pushing, shoving, grabbing, tackling blah blah blah, but in the end we all had fun. Anyway, as my life continued to flash before my eyes again and again, I thought that if the guardians or novices had a chance to play musical chairs, this is exactly what it would look like. Thus, this chapter was born.**

 **Also, for those of you who don't know, my name is Rachel (Hi! Nice to meet you!). I am telling you this because the girl that Eddie gives up his chair for is also named Rachel. Yes, that was 100% a self-insert. Feel free to judge me, but Eddie ismy husband (see FF name).**

 **As per usual, please let me know your thoughts on this. One of my greatest fears in writing this Deleted Scenes series is that I will take my fav characters OOC, so commentary and suggestions are always welcomed.**

 **Thank you so so much for taking the time to read! I hope you have a miraculous day!**


	8. Meet CuteSort Of

**AN: Hello, my friends!**

 **I've missed you all very much! Anyway, this Deleted Scene is less of a deleted scene and more of an AU of a familiar scene. I know, I suck at sticking to my own rules. (You know you're losing in life when you try to stick it to the man, but you, in fact, _are_ the man you're sticking it to.) But I digress. **

**As I was saying, this is more of an AU, and hopefully you gathered from the title that it is my re-imagining of Rose and Dimitri's meeting/Rose and Lissa's capture. Was there a need to re-write this scene? No, I love the canon version. Did I write this to simply amuse myself? Probably. Did I write this so I could continue to procrastinate on the billions of final projects I have to do? Most definitely. *sigh***

 **I hope you lovelies enjoy it:)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or any of its characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead**

* * *

 **Meet Cute...Sort Of: Rose POV**

"Rose. No."

I wasn't sure if my best friend/charge was trying to put a stop to the taunting I was annoying her with in regards to a certain admirer of hers from our political science (ugh) class, or if she was trying to stop my hand from grabbing a second package of Oreos. I turned to find a stern look and an outstretched finger pointed at my reaching hands. So, the cookies then. If she'd been referring to my harassment about Peter, I might've backed off, but when Liss and I go on our weekly grocery shopping trips, sweets and desserts, and whether or not we should buy them, is a topic I will argue till I'm blue in the face. And trust me, that had happened before.

I grabbed the cookies and placed my free hand on my hip. "Rose, yes."

She responded with an eye roll. "We already have a pack in the cart, not to mention we haven't even finished the one we have at home."

I scoffed. "Pssh. That's what you think. I finished those off the second day we had them. Also" – I pointed at the price sticker on the shelf – "they're on sale! Two packs for five dollars!"

"Wow, we could save a whole dollar. Good-bye crummy apartment! Hello mansion!"

I don't think I have to tell you she was being sarcastic, but I still stuck out my lip and made my eyes big and puppy-dogish, finishing the pout by bringing my hands together in a pleading gesture. "Pleeeeeease?"

I wasn't above groveling and was two seconds away from dropping to my knees when she broke into a grin. "Fine!" she relented, throwing up her hands. "Eat Walmart's entire supply of junk food. See if I care when you go into a sugar induced coma."

"At least I'll be in comatose with a smile on my face."

We both laughed as I placed the second Oreo package in our cart.

We continued shopping, hitting all of the essential aisles: food, clothing (fall weather was nearing after all), toiletries (you can _never_ have too many tampons), food, pet (Lissa always insists on getting Oscar treats), camping (Walmart may not have a silver stake, but they do have the next best thing: a machete), oh, and did I mention food?

Lissa did most of the shopping because a) she had all the money, and b) I had more importing things to worry about. Perimeters weren't going to secure themselves, you know! I made it a point to always go on these trips in the daytime, effectively taking Strigoi out of the picture, but living on our own for almost two years had taught me that undead creatures of the night were not the only threat I needed to worry about when it came to my charge's safety. We'd had a few run-ins with humans. Mainly entitled college boys with wandering eyes and eager hands, nothing I couldn't handle. But we've also had to escape psi-hounds before. In that situation, the threat came from of our own races, the Moroi and dhampir, in their attempt to track us down.

So… basically the world was against us, which suited me just fine. Allies are nice, but I was never good at relying on others. I believed only in what I could do for myself. Plus, it made deciphering friend from foe much easier. If the whole world is against you, then treat everyone as a hostile enemy.

Okay. Not as a hostile enemy, but I certainly didn't trust anyone beyond myself and Lissa. I couldn't afford to.

"What do you think, Rose? Red or cyclamen?" We were in the cosmetics aisle, and Lissa's voice pulled me away from scrutinizing an old woman who was standing a little too close for comfort. I sent the lady one more glare before fixing my attention on Lissa and the two bottles of nail polish she was holding.

I wrinkled my nose at the pink. "Ugh. Red. Definitely."

She looked disappointed. "But red's not my color."

"Fine. Get the pink," I said, waving her off.

"Cyclamen."

"Isn't that a type of tree?"

"Flower. Anyway, I think we should get them both since red is practically your signature nail color." A huge smile suddenly broke out on her face. "We should have a girl's night! We can do our nails, eat terrible food, and watch Clueless!"

I was about to tell her that I wasn't feeling up to it. Yesterday had been a feeding day, and while I was, for the most part, fully recovered, I'd been hoping to get some extra sleep tonight. But then I felt a spike of excitement and happiness through the bond, and even a bit of nostalgia. After all, we used to have girl's nights all the time, but that was before. Before the accident. Before we ran away. Needless to say, it'd been a while since we had one of those nights. Cuz nothing said mani-pedis and chick-flicks like a dead family and an entire vampiric society trying to hunt you down, right?

Unwilling to kill that spark of joy, I said, "Sure, Liss. It'll be just like old times."

With a girlie squeal, she placed both bottles in the cart then moved further down the aisle to the mud mask section. Oh Lord. Mud masks, in my limited experience, never did anything. They just made you feel like you were classy or something, like you got the whole spa experience.

I was about to tell her all of this when something, or rather someone, standing at the end of the aisle caught my eye. It was a man. And honestly, I'd bet he'd catch any girl's eye (not just one who has made it her job to notice everything within a ten-mile radius of her best friend) cuz the guy was hot. Like, stop walking on the street and get hit by traffic, hot.

However, at the moment, his hotness wasn't what I noticed. Okay, I noticed it, but it wasn't the _only_ thing I noticed because this man… this man was a dhampir. And if the way he held himself and seemed to see everything all at once with those focused eyes was any indication, he was a guardian.

 _No. They can't take her. I won't let them._

"Lissa," I said, keeping the tremor from my voice. I had to remain calm for her sake. "Can we go back to the toiletries aisle? I think we're almost out of shampoo at home."

"Sure, in a sec, Rose. So, what do you think? Charcoal or – "

" _Now, Liss!_ " I said through a tight smile. I was attempting, and probably failing, to seem like I hadn't noticed the guardian, but when his posture shifted from one of observation to one ready for pursuit, I knew he knew I knew. We had to get out of here.

"Don't turn around," I mumbled when her eyes widened, meaning sinking in. "Just follow me and stay close. We'll be fine."

Not even bothering with the cart (there was no point if he was aware of our knowledge that he was here) we headed in the opposite direction, walking down the aisle at as brisk a pace that could seem normal. Glances in the security mirror ahead of us told me he was following, but he did so at a leisurely pace, and that worried me. He wasn't afraid of losing us. Which meant he had back-up. The question was, how much back-up?

At the end of the aisle, I made a split-second decision and turned left. Right would've taken us to the closest set of doors, but I'm sure the guardians knew that and were expecting us to go that direction. We _did_ need to get out of there, but I preferred to do so without a tail, and in the time it would take to walk across Walmart to the second set of doors, I was planning on losing ours.

"Rose, what are we going to do?" The fear in Lissa's trembling voice matched the fear pouring out of her through the bond. Her fear was feeding my own, and I was tempted to give in to it, but instead I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, and told her the same thing I'd been telling her since kindergarten. "We'll be fine. I'll take care of everything."

She nodded at my words, believing them. I nodded back, hoping I was worthy of that trust in this situation.

We were in one of the main walkways, which meant we were out in the open. That, as a general rule when you're trying not to be seen, is bad. Not to mention there was a dhampir further up in the clothes section pretending to check out a Spider-Man T-shirt, so I steered Lissa down the closest aisle on our right. What do you know? The toiletry aisle.

Maybe we could just throw tampons at them.

No. While the feminine product usually sent most boys running, something told me Guardian Hottie and his friends weren't going to be scared off by pieces of cotton, regardless of their intended usage.

"Maybe we could hide out in the girl's room," Lissa offered, but I was already shaking my head.

"No windows and only one door. We'd be trapped in a second. All they'd have to do is wait for us to come out."

"What if we didn't come out? This is a 24-hour store. We could stay here for a couple days until security makes us leave, and the guardians wouldn't be able to touch us if we had a guard walking us out."

"Nice thought, but no can do. If we stay here for a day, heck, if we stay here for another hour, the guardians have the resources to not only bring in more people, but they would also confiscate our car" – technically it was our roommate's car – "break into our apartment, and they'd probably infiltrate the staff here too. The guard walking us out would probably be a guardian himself."

By now we'd weaved through a number of aisles, and I'd made us take as many twists and turns as possible, but I still continued to catch glimpses of guardians everywhere. I mean, geez, if we weren't, yah know, trying to escape and all, I'd be flattered that they'd brought so many.

After another guardian sighting, resulting in us making a U-turn toward, well, more freaking guardians, I was starting to truly panic. There had to be at least ten guardians in this building, and we were no closer to getting out of here than before.

I was just starting to reconsider the security guard idea (jumping into the ball cage would get us kicked out faster than waiting a day or two would), when I noticed a small group of teenage boys. They were in the sports section messing around with a few basketballs. One of them, trying to show off, bounced a ball as hard as he could and actually managed to hit himself in the face. His two friends laughed at him and I smiled, but for an entirely different reason. _Yes, they'd do nicely._

"Liss, shake your hair out," I commanded as I began flipping my own.

She stared at me like I was crazy. I didn't blame her. "What?"

"Shake your hair out, and" – I gave her a once over – "unbutton the bottom buttons of your shirt then tie it to look like a crop top."

She looked scandalized. "Rose – "

I turned her head. "See those boys over there? They're our ticket out of here. So, I need you to crank up the charm and follow my lead."

While she complied, I tugged my own shirt down to the point of cleavage and thanked my lucky stars that I'd chosen to wear my good jeans today.

As soon as I was satisfied with both of our looks, I nudged Lissa toward the teens. "Showtime."

"This isn't going to end well," she said through a killer smile. "I haven't flirted with anyone in over two years!"

"Flirting is just like riding a bike. Once you learn, you're set for life."

"That's not even a little bit tru- "

"Hey, boys!" I said once we reached their aisle. "Could you help us out?"

Three heads turned. Three mouths popped open. Three sets of eyes traveled south then back up again. I impatiently stood there with a smile on my face. I mean lanta, how long does it take to check a couple of girls out?

"So…," I said, taking another step forward. "Help?" Hopefully simple, one-word statements would make this easier.

The tallest one smirked. (He also happened to be the one who'd hit himself in the face with the basketball.) "What can we help you chicks with?"

Charming.

"Well," – I pretended to blush – "it's kind of embarrassing, but we were wondering if you could maybe walk us to our car. It's just that we're alone and – "

"Are in need of protection," he finished for me.

"Exactly!" I exclaimed, but internally I was nursing my wounded pride, knowing I could take all three of these guys in a fight.

"So, will you help us?" Lissa asked in a sickly-sweet voice, adding a touch of compulsion. She even flipped her hair as she said it. Nice touch.

Tall-guy followed the movement and smiled. "Sure. We'll help you. Won't we, guys?" His friends, who I silently named Short-guy and Ironic-T-shirt-guy, both nodded eagerly, and they did so not a moment too soon because behind them, at the end of the aisle, appeared Guardian Hottie. He had a moment of pause when he noticed the civilian boys between himself and us. I caught his eye. He looked at the boys then looked back to me. _Don't you dare_ , his eyes said. Mine narrowed and I smirked. _Watch me._

I walked right up to Tall-guy, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him into the grateful hug you would expect a damsel in distress to give. "Thank you so much!" I cried. Over Tall-guy's shoulder I saw the guardian draw back.

"You boys are too sweet," Lissa said, shooting her most dazzling smile at Short-guy and Ironic-T-Shirt-guy, who practically melted into piles of adoration.

Releasing Tall-guy, I linked my arm with Lissa's and we started walking. The boys caught up a second later, Tall-guy on my left, Short-guy on Lissa's right, and Ironic-T-shirt-guy walked behind. I didn't feel too bad for him. After all, I was wearing my good jeans.

As we made our way to the exit, I continued to spot guardians, noting the conflicting looks that would cross their faces when they recognized the new obstacle. Who knew teenage boys could be so useful? I sure didn't.

The guardian posted at the door, I could tell, was raging a war within himself, but in the end, he was forced to watch as we walked through the threshold and into freedom.

"So," Tall-guy began, putting his arm around my shoulders. "I didn't catch your name."

I held back the dozens of fiery comments I normally would have made, and instead channeled my inner Lissa when I smiled and said, "My name is Rose. And yours?"

Tall-guy said his name was James… or maybe it was Josh? Jacob? Fernando? I hadn't really been listening to his answer because I was too focused on the green Honda we were steadily approaching.

 _I can't believe we're actually going to pull this off! Ten more feet-_

"Rose!"

My first thought was: wow, that's a deep voice, and my second thought, the one that stopped me in my tracks, was: that voice is _too_ deep for any of these boys. That was when I saw Guardian Hottie running toward us. Was he really going to fight me in front of these humans? Because that was what he'd have to do. I wasn't going to let them take Lissa. We weren't going to go quietly.

However, upon reaching us, instead of performing some kind of offensive maneuver, he exclaimed, "Thank goodness you're alright! I got worried when I couldn't find you."

 _Um, what? What game was this guy playing?_

"Thank you, gentlemen," he continued, addressing our escorts. "But I can take it from here."

Before I could interject, James/Fernando scoffed. "And who are you, exactly?"

Guardian Hottie smiled. "My name is Dimitri." Then is face darkened. "And I'd ask you to take your hands off my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?!" James/Fernando and I exclaimed (though his exclamation consisted of fewer exclamation points than mine).

"Yes, girlfriend. Now, if you don't mind… "

Then Guardian Hottie (or Dimitri, I guess) reached out, grabbed my wrist, pulled me to him so I was pressed against his side, and held me like I really was his girlfriend and he really was my possessive and overprotective boyfriend. The fact that I didn't immediately pull away or kick his kidney evidenced how completely Dimitri threw me off guard with his comment, though, I suppose, that was his goal.

"Well," James/Fernando said. "I don't see your name on her, and _she_ was the one who approached _us._ "

James/Fernando was either very brave or very stupid because I doubt very many people found it within themselves to challenge Dimitri. I mean, the guy was huge. My head only reached his pecks, so I'd say he was 6'7'' of pure, lean muscle. (My cheek was pressed against said peck, so I felt perfectly qualified to make the "pure muscle" judgement.)

Finally, when my speech and motor skills returned to me, I yanked myself out of Dimitri's arms. He wasn't the only one who could improvise. "How dare you!" I yelled. "I broke up with you two weeks ago, and _now_ you decide to show up. Here, of all places! When I'm trying to form a relationship with Fernando!"

"Um… It's Jason."

I ignored him. "You never loved me! The only person you have ever loved is yourself! You only ever wanted me for my body and the amazing sex, you pig!" I might have been having too much fun with this, but it was my turn to make Dimitri uncomfortable, to make him back down.

But Dimitri didn't look uncomfortable. He looked deadly serious when he said, "Please. I want you back. Stop running." And I had a feeling he wasn't talking to me, the pseudo-girlfriend. He was talking to Lissa and I, asking us to return to the academy with him and the other guardians.

Unfortunately for him, I couldn't let that happen.

"No. Lissa, get in the car. We're leaving."

His eyes hardened. I could tell he was done with our game when he turned to the humans and growled, "You have exactly five seconds to make yourselves scarce."

Short-guy and Ironic-T-shirt-guy, the cowards, didn't seem to have any problem with complying. Admittedly, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of Dimitri's glare either. Jason, surprisingly, stood his ground. Though, said ground seemed a little shifty. Like I said, Dimitri's glare was pretty intimidating.

"This is a free country. I can do whatever I want," he managed to mumble.

Dimitri stepped closer and leaned down so they were at eye level. "According to that definition of freedom, I have every right to tear you apart limb from limb, starting with the arm you had draped across Rose's shoulders."

That did it. Jason's eyes grew impossibly big as he began backing away. "Um, yeah. Okay, dude. I'm sorry, alright. I'll – I'll just go."

 _No! He was our last hope of getting out of here!_

"Jason, wait!"

I grabbed his arm, but he shook me off. "Look, Rose, you're hot, but not 'I'd become an amputee for you' hot. Sorry." Then he took off running.

"Humph. Well that was rude. I'd say I'm at least 'I'd become a paralytic for you' hot."

"Rose." All thoughts of joking and sarcasm left my mind when I heard my best friend whispering my name, when I saw tears rim her eyes.

I watched as the guardians Dimitri'd brought with him closed ranks around us, effectively containing us where we stood.

As they tightened their circle, I pulled Lissa behind me and heard myself shouting, "Leave her alone! Don't touch her!"

I looked at Dimitri, but what I saw wasn't Guardian Hottie. He wasn't my improv boyfriend. He was my enemy, which was probably why, when he stepped forward with outstretched arms, I lashed out.

He, being an experienced guardian and all, blocked my attack, but I'm a dhampir, too. I've had training, too. I didn't lose my balance, nor did I lose my resolve. With an animalistic growl, I leaped at him again, but this time, instead of blocking me, Dimitri used my momentum against me, swinging me around till my back was pressed against his chest and my arms were pulled across myself. His fingers circled my wrists like manacles, holding me in place. I kicked out, trying to hit a kneecap, but he dodged me effortlessly. I was powerless.

Bending his head, he spoke softly to me, "I'm not going to hurt you."

It was then I realized two things. The first being that my current captor was Russian. While in the presence of the humans he'd used an American accent, that was gone now. The second was that whether we liked it or not, whether it was one of the most dangerous places for my best friend to be or not, we were going back to St. Vladimir's Academy. I'd failed.

I met Lissa's eyes, saw the sadness and fear there. "I'm so sorry, Liss."

"Rose. Don't," she said. "It's not your fault." She tried to smile, but the bond told me a different story.

I couldn't take it anymore. "Let me go," I pleaded. "I won't fight you."

Dimitri hesitated, but eventually his grip loosened, allowing me to go to my friend.

The guardians continued to draw in closer till, on the outside, it might've looked as if we were just a big group of friends hanging out. But that couldn't have been further from the truth. Dimitri only proved this point when he lowered himself into a bow before Lissa. "My name is Dimitri Belikov," he said upon returning to normal height. "I've come to take you back to St. Vladimir's Academy, Princess."

I squeezed my friend's hand. The bond was one-way, so I had to silently, through our joined hands, send the same message I'd been telling her since kindergarten.

 _We'll be fine._

 _I'll take care of everything._

* * *

 **AN: Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you thought in a review and/or comment!**

 **I have no story pertaining to the inspiration of this chapter, but I will say that Lissa's crazy idea (to spend two days just chillin' in the girl's room) wasn't as random as it seemed. It's based off of true events. I have crazy friends, and one of those friends thought it would be fun to see how long he could just live in Walmart. He made it two days before he was asked to leave. (I can see that you're torn between face palming and applauding him.)**

 **Also, I know this is an AU, but I still tried to keep everyone in character. I realize I stretched them a bit for comedic purposes, but I hope you still saw their personalities shinning through. If not, let me know. I'll work on it:)**

 **Have a peachy day!**


	9. Frenemies

**AN: Hello, my pals! I can't tell you how much I've missed you all!**

 **I know it has been a while, and I have the same excuse that I always give. School + work + other obligations = virtually no time to write. However, school is out for the Spring semester, and I am not self-sacrificing or tenacious enough to take Summer classes, so...I now have time to write (hence the new chapter).**

 **Anywho, this Deleted Scene takes place during Shadow Kiss. And despite my story summary claiming that I have oodles these, this is actually the first unoriginal/familiar scene that I've written from someone else's perspective. (I'm a failure, I know.) Oddly enough, the idea to rewrite this scene from a different perspective was what inspired Deleted Scenes in the first place. It just took me eight chapters to work up the confidence to write something in this particular character's POV (oops).**

 **So, I hope you like it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Academy or its characters. Everything belongs to Richelle Mead.**

* * *

 **Frenemies: Christian's POV**

I was happy when my culinary class ended. It wasn't that I didn't like the class (it was actually rather interesting, not to mention useful), but I liked my girlfriend more. A lot more. And since said girlfriend was in the library at that moment, there was no place I'd rather be.

Unfortunately, the path to the library was a perilous one, and not just because of the impending threat of "Strigoi." Ice slicked the walkways in dangerous sheets, making progress slow. I would've had the confidence to go faster if I thought Rose Hathaway, my pseudo-guardian for the next six weeks, would deign to catch me if I slipped. We'd come to a mutual truce in our constant bickering no more than a half an hour ago, but unless the guidelines for this guardian exercise required them to protect their charge from the elements, I didn't doubt that I'd end up flat on my rear with Rose in near hysterics standing over me. I'd never live it down, so I didn't take any chances.

"Can we stop at my dorm real quick?" I asked. "I have something I need to grab."

She shrugged. "I go where you go. What do you need from your room?"

"None of your business," I said, rolling my eyes. Did she always have to be so nosy?

"Condoms, then."

I missed a step and slipped. Lightning fast, she reached out a steadying arm, but I quickly smacked it off once I regained my balance.

"NO! What is wrong with you!? I'm not grabbing" – I glanced around before lowering my voice – "condoms. We're going to the _library_ for God's sake."

She raised an eyebrow; well, she _tried_ to raise an eyebrow. "So, a church, the house for the Big Guy who condemns such premarital activities, is alright, but the library is where you draw the line?"

So much for that half hour of peace.

I scrubbed a hand down my face. "Of course, Lissa told you about that."

"Yeah, um, that's how I know. She _told_ me."

It was probably my imagination, but I could've sworn she was blushing.

Thankfully, Rose dropped the subject. I had expected her to tease me (or threaten me) for the rest of my days, but the topic seemed to almost make her uncomfortable. She lost some of the pep in her step and wouldn't look at me, turning her head to stare at what I think was the guardian building. Funny, I never would've taken Rose for a prude, especially with the reputation she used to have. Through Lissa I'd come to learn that most of the rumors about Rose's exploits were either untrue or greatly exaggerated. But you didn't get a reputation like that without doing _something_ , right?

I was going to say something more to lighten Rose's mood, and get rid of this awkward silence, but Brandon Lazar beat me to it. "Hey, Ozera," he called, rushing toward us, heedless of the ice under his feet.

Brandon was one of the few people who lived in my hall that I could stand, so I smiled and said, "Hey, Brandon. What's up?"

He reached us and put his hands on his knees, huffing and puffing, but his eyes were excited, almost giddy. "You guys…won't believe…what just happened…in my math class!"

Apparently, it was quite the fight. Guardian Petrov threw the novices guarding the class off momentarily by climbing in through a window. She managed to "kill" one of them before the remaining two could take her down. Brandon's dramatic retelling had all three of us laughing, and with the awkward gone, I felt that Rose and I were officially back to our truce.

"What I want to know," I laughed, "is how Guardian Petrov got to the second story window in the first place."

Rose snorted. "Hey, she might be old, but she could take on almost any of us." I didn't doubt it.

We had just finished crossing the quad, nearing the Moroi dorms, when Rose suddenly stopped and squinted at Brandon. "What happened to you?" she gasped. "Have you been fighting the Guardians too?"

She reached for him, but he pulled away and started walking again, faster. Rose and I picked up our paces to keep up.

I'd noticed the bruises, of course – they partially covered the left side of his face and ran down his jaw and neck to his ear where there were some familiar looking burn marks – they were kind of hard to miss. But I hadn't really thought anything of it. Dhampirs may be the warriors but fights among the Moroi were not unheard of. I'd assumed Brandon had gotten himself into a fight with a fire user who'd gone way, way overboard.

"Nah," he replied, averting his eyes, "just fell."

"Come on," Rose scoffed. "That's the lamest, most unoriginal excuse in the world."

"It's true," he insisted with a bite to his words.

"If someone is screwing with you, I can give you a few pointers."

Brandon suddenly whipped around to face Rose. He made eye contact and looked at her intently, almost like he was concentrating. A trickle of sweat ran down his temple even though it was freezing outside. "Just let it go," he said firmly. He wasn't asking her to let it go; he was telling her.

But for the life of me I couldn't remember a single time Rose Hathaway had ever done something she was told to do if she didn't want to do it.

She laughed. "What are you trying to do? Compel me –"

Almost as if a switch had been flipped, Rose cut herself off and the smile vanished from her face. Despite the now grim expression, excitement shone in her eyes as she grabbed both Brandon and I's wrists and hauled us behind her. It was then that I took the rustling in the bushes for what it really was: a Strigoi.

I knew it was fake. Brandon knew it was fake. Rose knew it was fake. But as Guardian Alto, clad in black, jumped out of the bushes, that knowledge didn't stop her from lowering into a defensive position and reaching for her stake, it didn't stop my heart from pounding as if a real Strigoi were here for my blood, and it certainly didn't stop Brandon from taking an additional step back, making me a second barrier between himself and our attacker. _Typical._

I didn't bother telling Brandon that he had nothing to worry about. Nothing was getting past Rose. He might have never seen her in action, but I had. I knew that she'd faced down two Strigoi – real Strigoi – and won. I'd seen how fiercely determined and protective Rose could be when it came to the lives of others. Regardless of all our fighting and teasing, I knew Rose was strong. Rose was skilled. Rose was…

Terrified.

Guardian Alto made a move to come at her, but she didn't bother putting her hands up to protect herself, she didn't even flinch. Turning back to Rose, I noticed that her eyes weren't even on Alto, as far as she was concerned, he didn't even exist. Instead, Rose was looking somewhere beyond him at…nothing. I tried squinting to see what I was missing, but it didn't help. There was genuinely nothing there, yet Rose kept staring. Eyes wide and filled with tears. Lips parted and trembling. Cheeks drained of color, white as a ghost. Whatever she was seeing, her expression had me more scared than Alto's arm circling my neck did.

Once both Brandon and I were secured, and Rose still hadn't made a move to stop him, Alto let out a growl of anger and actually slammed his boot into Rose's shoulder, knocking her out of whatever trance she'd been in.

She fell forward and caught herself right before her face would have hit the ground. "Hathaway!" he yelled, angry spit flying from his lips. "What are you doing?"

Dazed, Rose pushed herself up and faced a fuming Alto, then looked back at the spot that had captured her attention so fully. I tried squinting again, but I still couldn't make out what she was seeing. _What could she possibly be looking at?_

Turning to Alto again, she finally seemed to realize the position Brandon and I were in, and what that meant for her. While it went unspoken that she had just failed her first test, Alto helpfully informed her that we'd be dead if he had been a real Strigoi, and rather than slinging a fiery comeback like I'd come to expect from her, Rose actually looked down and mumbled, "I'm sorry, Guardian Alto."

Releasing Brandon and I, Alto stepped forward and barked a laugh. "You're _sorry_? Well that just makes everything alright now, doesn't it? Because a real Strigoi won't attack your Moroi if the guardian tells him that she is super-duper sorry that she's incompetent."

Rose clenched her jaw and returned Alto's glare. "I'm not incompetent."

Through his teeth he growled. "I know you aren't, Hathaway! You just wanted to add to your little temper tantrum from this morning by allowing me to get to them on purpose!"

Her jaw dropped. "I did not do this on purpose. I just…I just made a mistake."

"Tell that to the disciplinary committee."

"Discipli-"

"This isn't up for discussion," he said, spinning on his heels and walking away. "Follow me, Hathaway. Mr. Lazar. Mr. Ozera." He nodded to both of us in turn. Clearly we were dismissed. I tried to catch Rose's eye as she passed me, but she avoided my gaze as she fell in line behind Alto, letting him lead her to an unknown punishment.

"Well," Brandon started, breaking the silence that followed, "that was…"

"Strange," I finished. Rose wasn't one to back down from a fight, especially a fight against a Strigoi, fake or otherwise. She and I might not be close, but I knew her well enough to know that becoming a guardian was one of the few things Rose took very seriously. She would never do anything to jeopardize achieving that goal, like say, purposely failing to protect her Moroi during the field experience. Something wasn't right. Recalling the look on her face when she froze only confirmed it. I didn't know what it was, but something had definitely prevented Rose from attacking Alto.

"I was going to say disappointing," Brandon said. "I mean, all anyone ever talks about when it comes to Rose Hathaway – beside her smokin' hot body, of course – is how deadly she is in a fight. I was expecting something amazing, but that was just pathetic, am I right?" He tried to nudge my arm in comradery, but I stepped back. It didn't seem to faze him. "Bet she made the whole thing up about taking out those two Strigoi too."

Every word out of his mouth fueled my anger and something else I couldn't say I'd ever felt before: a protectiveness of Rose.

"Brandon," I gritted out, "you're an idiot. I was in that house with her, remember? I was there. Rose did kill those Strigoi, and I can honestly say that if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have made it out of there alive."

As a general rule, royals don't like being told they're wrong, and they certainly don't like being reminded of their less than ideal brain functioning capacity _while_ being told they're wrong, so Brandon's snarl of anger wasn't wholly unexpected, but his words, and the audacity it took to say them, were.

"As I recall, not everyone made it out of there alive. So, either Rose isn't as skilled as everyone claims she is, or this isn't the first time she purposely left someone to the mercy of the Strigoi."

For all of my animosity and general dislike for the people around me, for all of the whispering, rumors, and hurled insults, for all of the ostracizing and blatant hatred toward me and my family I'd never thrown a punch…until this moment.

Brandon's head snapped back, and I grimaced as I shook out my throbbing hand. I definitely threw that wrong.

"How dare you!"

"No. How dare _you_. You have no right to talk about things you know absolutely nothing about." He wasn't there. He didn't hear her offer up her neck, her blood to the Strigoi so her friends wouldn't have to. He didn't smell her burning flesh as I melted off her cuffs. He didn't witness her resolve and leadership as we made our way up the stairs of the house that still haunts my nightmares. He didn't see her throw herself into the arms of an ancient Strigoi, providing a distraction so we could all escape. He didn't know what I knew: that Rose was the best guardian this Academy had.

He looked like he wanted to punch me back, but somehow, he also knew that he'd crossed the line with insinuating that Rose would purposefully let Mason die. The punch was deserved, but that didn't stop him from spitting on the ground near my feet and storming away with a, "Screw you, Ozera," thrown over his shoulder.

Unsurprisingly, the People I Can Stand list remained in a perpetual state of steady decline.

I dropped onto a nearby bench and forced myself to take a few deep breaths. I needed to calm down. I mean, I'd just _punched_ a guy, and for Rose's sake no less. There had to be something wrong with me.

Yet…I didn't regret it. Normally, Rose would be the last person I'd come to the defense of, even the last person I'd think _needed_ someone to come to her defense. I don't know what she saw minutes ago, but I know what _I_ saw. She was scared and vulnerable, someone who very much needed an ally in her corner. I used to think Hell would freeze over before Rose became that person, yet here we were. Spokane had cracked something inside of her.

"Hello, Mr. Ozera."

I looked up to see Guardian Belikov walking by, heading to or from one shift or another. I gave him my patented head nod of acknowledgement in response, and he continued on his merry way. However, he didn't continue very far, coming to a quick stop only a few paces beyond me and spinning back around. I also noticed he was no longer merry.

"Mr. Ozera," he started suspiciously, and for a split second I thought he was going to call me out on hitting Brandon. Even if Brandon had told someone about what I did already, news probably wouldn't have traveled quite that fast, but my purpling knuckles could give me away just as easily – guardians were perceptive like that. Instead he asked, "Where's Rose?"

Crap.

If Alto's reaction was any indication, Rose was in huge trouble. And while watching her get chewed out would usually be something I'd bring popcorn to witness, this situation was different. I didn't want Rose to get in trouble at all, so telling another guardian what happened probably wouldn't be the best idea. On the other hand, Dimitri would be hearing about it anyway, either from Alto, Rose herself, or both. Alto would probably tell him that she'd refused to protect me. Rose would just repeat the bull crap she spouted earlier about making a mistake. Neither of those things would be the truth, though. But Belikov needed the truth. He was Rose's mentor, and if anyone was going to be an effective ally in her corner, it would be him.

"Rose is with Guardian Alto," I told him. No use beating around the bush. "She failed her first test."

His brows furrowed. "Novices fail these tests all the time, that's not a reason to take her away from her charge."

"He mentioned something about a disciplinary committee."

His eyes widened, showing me a brief moment of shock and concern, before his face slammed into neutrality. "What did Rose do that would warrant bringing a committee together?"

"I guess he didn't like the way she failed the test."

"How did she-"

Saved by the bell, or, more accurately, the phone ring. Dimitri took the cell phone out of his pocket, and a muscle in his jaw ticked at the caller ID.

"Thank you for letting me know about this. Have a nice day, Mr. Ozera."

"Wait," I said before he could turn away or answer the phone. "Listen, I'm sure whoever is on the other end of that line is going to lay out all the details of what happened very nicely for you, but you should know that no matter what they say, no matter what _Rose_ says, she didn't do it on purpose, and this definitely wasn't a screw up. Something…something happened to her. I don't know what, but…you should've seen her face." I shivered a little at the memory of it. "Something is happening to her, but I think she's too afraid to say anything."

Dimitri nodded, a quick movement that told me he didn't like my observation, but he was glad to have it. "You're a good friend, Christian."

I rubbed the back of my neck. I really wasn't. Good friends didn't wish other good friends would get swallowed by a black hole every time Lissa gave them her attention instead of…well, me. "I'm not sure about that. I just think Rose could use some support against that disciplinary thing."

"Don't worry about that," he assured me, the corner of his mouth twitching upward for the briefest of moments. "Rose will always have my support." And then he was turning away and bringing the attention demanding phone to his ear.

* * *

After retrieving a textbook from my room, I was finally able to meet up with Lissa in the library. I thought for sure that I would be getting a similar lecture to the one I got last Fall when I'd set Ralf Sarcozy on fire, about how violence is never the answer and attacking people is wrong yaddy yaddy yadda. But it turned out that Brandon didn't even tell anyone that I'd punched him, and if he did, then that gossip was overshadowed by Rose's refusal to protect me out on the quad.

Everyone in the library, including Lissa, was talking about it. I tried to explain to her that everybody had been misinformed, but she was still stuck on the fuss Rose had made earlier about being assigned to me. Giving up and figuring that Rose would be able to plead her case later, I decided to enjoy my semi-alone time with Lissa. Eddie was still with us obviously, but he was a lot quieter and less intrusive than Rose. Six weeks was a long time so I'd take what I could get.

A little while later, Rose did catch up with us. Unfortunately, she also brought Ivashkov with her, which did unspeakable things to my mood. That guy was too arrogant for his own good, and he was completely obsessed with Lissa and the element she wielded. Needless to say, I didn't trust him.

However, my mood soured further, turning from annoyance to rage, when Rose told our group about a trial that would be happening at the royal court. More specifically, Victor psychopathic-man-that-kidnaps-children-for-his-own-personal-gain Dashkov's trial. Rose didn't elaborate on how she got the information, but she did tell us that we, being the people who were actually involved in the whole ordeal he was being tried for, were not invited. Without us there to testify against him, there was a chance that he could go free, and this terrified Lissa. Which, let me tell you, had all of my hackles going up and all of my protective boyfriend sirens wee-wooing. Studying became impossible after that.

Eventually the librarians told everyone to pack up and head back to our dorms in time for curfew. I groaned internally because even with all of our brainstorming, we still hadn't come up with a viable solution that could get us to that trial.

Lissa and I continued to discuss the matter as we walked to the dorms hand in hand, but all to soon we were at the crossroad that dictated which dorm building one was heading to, and with a kiss we were forced to go our separate ways.

Despite knowing that there was a good chance I'd be assigned a guardian for the field experience, I hadn't actually prepared for it. Clothes and books and other belongings created what I considered a healthy, protective layer over my floor. Rose snorted when she saw the mess, but I wasn't embarrassed. Her room probably wasn't much better.

Not even bothering to do the "chivalrous" thing and offer her the bed – because we both knew she would decline, I would insist, then she would decline again, and we'd be back to square one (also, I just didn't want to give up my bed) – I began to clear a place for her. By the time we both finished brushing our teeth, Rose had made herself at home in the blankets on the floor.

I turned off the light and eagerly got into bed. Mentally my brain hurt with the news of Victor's trial, emotionally I was on edge and worried about Lissa, and physically my hand still ached from connecting with Brandon's jaw. Today had been…exhausting to say the least.

Sleep had almost pulled me under when I heard a quiet, "Christian?"

Rolling my eyes, I mumbled, "This is the time when we sleep, Rose." I didn't have the energy for an argument or whatever draining conversation she was trying to start.

"Believe me, I want that too. But I have a question."

"Is it about Victor? Because I need to sleep, and that's just going to piss me off again."

"No, it's about something else."

With a sigh I rolled to my side so I could look down in her general direction. Moroi eyesight, from what I'd heard, is heightened compared to humans. Even the smallest amount of light would help my eyes adjust so I could see her clearly, but my black out curtains and tinted windows did their job well when it came to keeping any and all sunlight out, so all I could do was face the talking dark blob on my floor and hope I was looking at her face and not her feet.

"Okay," I said somewhat reluctantly, "shoot."

"Why didn't you make fun of me over what happened with Stan? Everyone else is trying to figure out if I messed up or did it on purpose. Lissa gave me a hard time. Adrian did a little. And the guardians…well, never mind about them. But you didn't say anything. I figured you'd be the first one with a snappy comment."

My knee jerk reaction to her question actually was a snappy comment. Something along the lines of, _if you wanted me to give you a hard time, all you had to do was ask_. But the way she asked the question, with such uncertainty and caution, almost as if she expected me to start accusing her like everyone else had, had me holding my tongue.

"There was no point in giving you a hard time," I finally said. "I know you didn't do it on purpose."

"Why not? I mean, not that I'm contradicting you – because I _didn't_ do it on purpose – but why are you so sure?"

I thought back to what she'd said earlier, before this day had gone to hell in a handbasket, about how I held a piece of Lissa's heart that she couldn't touch. Those weren't the words of someone set on revenge, or someone who was about to live out her fantasy by letting her rival for Lissa's attention get "killed" by Strigoi.

"Because of our conversation in culinary science. And because of the way you are. I saw you in Spokane. And anyone who did what you did to save us…well, you wouldn't do something childish like this."

"Wow." Her surprise almost mirrored my own. At the beginning of the day, both of us had been so sure that the next six weeks would be about as fun as getting one's inner thigh hairs plucked by a praying mantis while being forced to listen to the newest hits in the mumble rap genre. Who knew we wouldn't even make it one night without having a heart to heart? "Thanks," she continued. "I…well, that means a lot. You're like the first person who actually believes I just messed up without any ulterior motives."

"Well, I don't believe that either."

"Believe what? That I messed up? Why not?"

For starters, if Rose really had messed up, she wouldn't be pushing for everyone to believe that she had. She'd be defending herself, or, at the very least, playing it off till the incident exited the rumor mill. But I didn't tell her that. Instead I said, "Weren't you just listening? I saw you in Spokane. Someone like you doesn't mess up or freeze."

"Killing Strigoi doesn't make me invinci-"

"Plus, I saw your face out there."

This gave her pause. "Out…on the quad?"

"Yeah." I brought up her face in my mind's eye. The sadness and the terror that overcame her because of something unseen had created an expression that was going to be hard to forget. "I don't know what happened, but the way you looked…that wasn't the look of someone trying to get back at a person. It wasn't the look of someone blanking out at Alto's attack either. It was something different…I don't know. But you were completely consumed by something else – and honestly? Your expression? Kind of scary."

She was quiet for a moment, contemplating. "Yet…you aren't giving me a hard time over that either."

"Not my business. If it was big enough to take you over like that, then it must be serious." I was hesitant to say what I wanted to next. The words would stroke her ego, especially coming from me, but I also had a feeling that after the day she had she needed to hear them, especially coming from me. "But if push comes to shove, I feel safe with you, Rose. I know you'd protect me if there was really a Strigoi there."

It was quite possible I was just seeing things, but I could've sworn the dark blob smiled a little.

"Okay," I said around a yawn, fully weirded out and trying to move on from the sharing portion of the evening. "Now that I've bared my soul, can we please go to bed? Maybe you don't need beauty sleep, but some of us aren't that lucky."

The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was a snicker and whispered words that sounded a lot like, "Ain't that the truth."

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 **AN: Thank you so much for taking the time to read this chapter of Deleted Scenes! You guys are 100% the reason I keep writing these! So, please feel free to comment on something you liked to give yah gurl a confidence boost, or, you know, you could always tell me to quit while I'm ahead. I accept all forms of comment and critique:)**

 **If you are one of the lovely people who decide to comment (not that those of you who don't comment aren't just as lovely), then I'd like to prompt you with a question (just as a suggestion for critical feedback purposes): what did you think of how I portrayed Christian's voice?**

 **Christian is one of my all time favorite characters in this series, and we get a lot of amazing scenes with him in the first three books. However, while he is ever-present in the last three books as well, he kind of tapers off to the point where his very name isn't even mention in the first book of Bloodlines. My point is, I'm worried that I didn't get his beautiful, resentful, snarky little voice right while writing this. As you all know, Shadow Kiss held a lot of milestones in Rose and Christian's relationship (which, let me tell you, gives me so much life because I adore their friendship), but, that being said, the scene that I wrote above takes place fairly early on in the book. This scene was one of those milestones, yes, but they still aren't buddy buddy or anything, so it was really hard to balance Christian's changing attitude toward Rose while maintaining the degree of annoyance he has for her. What do you guys think?**

 **No matter what, I appreciate you all, and I hope you have a sensational day!**


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